Naruto Uzumaki: Journey of a Jinchuuriki
by jmorris1501
Summary: The Shinobi world is a dark place, especially for a Jinchuuriki. And for Naruto Uzumaki, it might as well be hell. Naruto's Journey, gaining strength, allies, and hopefully...friends. Even amongst the Bjuu. Pairing undecided for near future. Smart/fuuinjutsu using Naruto. Rated M just in case, likely strong language.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

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The Village Hidden in the Leaves had seen much. As the first organised shinobi village, they had survived the final days of the clan wars. They had fought in all three shinobi world wars, and although they had lost much, they had survived, thanks in no small part to their exceptional Kage.

Hashirama Senju, the Shodaime Hokage, Mokuton user, an ingenious medic, and the most powerful shinobi of his era.

Tobirama Senju, the Nidaime Hokage, with a mastery over water matched only by the three-tailed turtle, and one of the world's few space-time ninjutsu users.

Hiruzen Sarutobi, Sandaime Hokage, the Professor, summoner of the Ape Clan and known for his skill in politics and his incredibly powerful collaboration jutsu.

And Minato Namikaze.

The Yellow Flash and the Bane of Hidden Rock. The fastest man alive. The world's foremost sealing master, greater than even his teacher, Jiraiya of the Sannin. No matter his actions, his skills were revered –and feared- throughout the Elemental even for incredible Yondaime Hokage, sealing a tailed beast was not an easy task. This was not helped by the fact that he was dying. Alongside his wife Kushina.

Kushina Uzumaki. Princess of whirlpool country before its fall, grandniece of the Shodaime Hokage's wife Mito Uzumaki, the Hidden Leafs greatest Kenjutsu master, and most relevantly…the second jinchuuriki of the Nine Tailed very same tailed beast that was currently sticking a gigantic claw through her and her husband. The same claw aimed at their new born son, Naruto.

Even faced with the full might of the strongest Bjuu, the whiskered infant was silent, his bright blue eyes fixed on his parents faces, confused as to why the two people in front of him had such odd expressions on their faces. And what the large, angry, orange, furry thing behind them was. He reached out towards them, gurgling at seeing his parents, but stopped, frowning at the anguish that appeared on their faces. Being born of a jinchuuriki, he had the same empathic abilities of his mother. And even though he was barely half a day old, he could sense that something wasn't right. And more worryingly, that the two people in front of him were fading.

Fast.

* * *

Minato and Kushina looked down at their son on the sealing alter. If the decision to seal Kyuubi into him had broken their hearts, seeing his round, whiskered face looking at them in confusion had blasted the pieces into oblivion. Given Minato's earlier battle, this wasn't such an exaggeration…

_**Flashback**_

_After settling his son in a cradle, Minato instantly returned to the chamber in which Kushina had given birth. Looking around for her and any sign of the masked man, he spotted the ANBU that had been guarding them, crumpled to the floor with their throats slit. His breathe hitched when he saw the fallen form of Biwako Sarutobi, the Sandaime Hokage's wife. Rushing to her, he checked her vital signs, but there was no saving her. The kunai in her back was a very clear indication of that. _

_Suddenly, he felt a massive burst of chakra that only kept increasing in magnitude. He paled at this. It could only be…the Nine Tails! Somehow, the masked man must have found a way to free it. Running from the cave, he knew he had to reach Kushina before the extraction was complete. Before he lost his wife forever…and before Naruto lost his mother._

_*Outside*_

_Minato watched in horror as the colossal fox tore its way towards the village. He could see ANBU and chuunin guards on the wall preparing for battle, but against the strongest of the Bjuu…he sighed, regretting the casualties that he would be unable to prevent. Turning back towards the area where the original outburst of chakra had occurred, his eyes widened when he saw the spiral masked man from the cave, standing over the barely conscious form of his wife._

_**Flashback End**_

He'd used his Hiraishin to save her, taking her to the same safe house as little Naruto. Even with his relief at her safety, he couldn't help but be amazed at the bloodline of the female Uzumaki. With the extraction of the most powerful of the Bjuu, even he hadn't been sure if she'd survive. But nonetheless, he was grateful. He'd had to face the masked man again, after returning to the battlefield, but what had truly shocked him, more than the liberal use of a bizarre space time ninjutsu that allowed his opponent to avoid Hiraishin, more than the man's skill and knowledge of jinchuuriki and Bjuu, was the fact that the man possessed a Sharingan.

The cursed Eye of the Uchiha's, capable of copying most jutsu, allowing the user to see chakra, anticipate an enemies' next move, and more worryingly…control the Bjuu.

After he'd removed the contract seal from the masked man, the tomoed eyes of the gigantic fox reverted to their original enraged, slitted, blood red state.

The two parents even as their lifeblood left them, smiled at their son. The boys' mother, holding back the fox with her chakra chains, his father, preparing to place a burden on him that would either break him, or turn him into the greatest shinobi to ever live.

The Reaper death seal was no longer a possibility. The boy would grow up with the full power of the mightiest Bjuu sealed inside him.

His parents spoke their last words.

And then the sealing began.

* * *

Contrary to what Minato believed, the masked man had not left. He was in fact watching the sealing process, an angry scowl on face.

"_Do you truly believe that your village will see him as a hero…Hokage" _the man thought to himself. He hadn't intended for another jinchuuriki to be created. His plans were falling apart. Seeing the chakra beast sealed into the infant, and his parents lying lifeless on the ground next to him, he made a decision to further his plans. One which would have an impact far greater than even he could have predicted.

* * *

Hiruzen Sarutobi was exhausted. Waiting for Biwako to return, then the Nine-Tails attack. And now the Fourth was dead, along with his wife. The aging Shinobi sighed. "_The only possible choice for a replacement Kage at the moment is…myself. Kakashi is still years away from being strong enough, and Danzo…"_ he shivered. However patriotic the man might be, the ROOT leader was not meant to be a peacetime leader. He could only imagine what Danzo would do with a Jinchuuriki, the son a Hokage no less.

He was carrying the baby back to the village. Kakashi was taking care of the bodies of Minato and Kushina, and he'd sent Genma to contact Jiraiya. His ANBU escort was following, watching for anyone who might attempt to harm the child.

The elderly Sarutobi knew that the villagers would likely not see young Naruto as their saviour but rather as the demon who murdered their beloved Hokage. It was moments like these, where the sheer impossibility of the task ahead, that the former Sandaime Hokage felt as if he'd rather face the third shinobi world war again, rather than stand by while control his village was stripped away from him, piece by agonising piece.

* * *

Inside the fresh seal, the lumbering Bjuu collapsed to the floor, the sealing process by the Shinigami had weakened it severely. "_Damn you…Hokage…Kushina"_ the fox growled. Already it could feel sleep approaching, something it had been deprived of for many, many years. And when it finally woke up….

There would be HELL to pay.

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Thank you for reading the first chapter of what I hope will be a long, gripping story. Please review, any input may not necessarily be what I want to hear, but it will help me write a better story. Keep well.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

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Thank you to Galler and Cainsanity2016 for reviewing my first chapter. And yes Galler, I will try and make the chapters longer, but as you said, it is difficult to write long chapters of cannon.

Since this is my first story, I'm very happy to see 14 followers so far, as well as 8 favorites, at least when I posted this. So thank you to those people, I really appreciate the support.

And so, onto the next chapter.

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Most five year olds have a rather simplistic view of the world. Eat, sleep, play, sleep, laugh, eat, listen to parents, and have fun with their friends. The children of the Hidden Leaf Village were no different. They laughed with their families and friends, had awesome birthdays with all their friends, and went to all the fun, bright festivals. The orphans even managed to enjoy these events, one of the few times they could interact with the outside community without fear of rejection.

For one particular child however, all of this was, for the foreseeable future, impossible.

Someone's personality and beliefs are often given form in their younger years, based on what they see and hear from the people around them. Parents, family, friends, and teachers. For Shinobi, this wasn't as true, but each and every one of them had their own small quirks.

For Naruto Uzumaki, this was a problem. With bright, cerulean blue eyes, crimson, spiky hair, slightly tanned skin, and three fox-like whisker marks on each cheek, he had a singularly exotic look, which only added to the pile of problems he was amassing.

With no family or friends, no mentors, and no important figures in his life, Naruto was forced to form his own views on world. There had been one old man who visited sporadically at the orphanage, but every time he saw the boy his face would appear…resigned, as if he didn't really want to be there. Which Naruto later figured must be true, since the man eventually stopped coming altogether. And being kicked out of the admittedly dreary establishment wasn't exactly a good thing, even considering how the boy had been treated.

For as long as Naruto could remember, the staff of the orphanage avoided him as much as possible. At meals, he was lucky to be fed, if the serving ladies didn't ignore him. And every time he asked one of the staff for help, he would ignored at best, beaten at worst, depending on the mood of the staff member in question. He could even see the looks of sadistic satisfaction when the other children called him names, stopped him from playing with them, or tried to beat him up, which initially resulted in him running to his room in tears.

And after the Matron had kicked him out, screeching that 'No demon should ever have been allowed to live here', was forced to face facts, however cold and unforgiving they might be.

Naruto Uzumaki was blessed, or cursed, as the situation dictated, with a perfect memory. Add in heightened senses that he was fairly sure no one but the dog people had, allowed him complete recall of events, with almost mind boggling detail.

As such, he reached several conclusions.

One, people really didn't like him. Why he didn't know. Two, it seemed that everyone he'd met so far, at least the adults, had an almost unnatural hatred towards him, while their children were encouraged to despise him. Three, as a result of this his life in the orphanage had been hell, and now, he lay huddled in a box in a back alley on a rainy night, his clothes in tatters, and without food or water.

"_Forget those stupid people"_ he thought to himself as he finally started drifting off to sleep. He'd have to go looking for food tomorrow, but for now, he let sleep claim him.

* * *

In his seal, a gigantic crimson eye slowly creaked open, after 5 years of sleep. The chakra beast silently observed its prison, taking in the bars of its cage, the seal paper keeping it closed, and the room beyond the gate.

Its eye widened momentarily in surprise. For human, this mindscape was in terrible condition. Fetid water lay everywhere, and the walls were cracked and bare of any decoration. The fox could ponder the cause of this later, but there was a far more important matter to consider.

In the corridor leading away from his seal, he could see hundreds of pipes, mainly blue and red - the boy's chakra and his own - with room for many, many more. But what surprised him was the sheer size of the boy's coils. As an Uzumaki he would already have had sizable reserves, bordering on gennin, possibly chuunin, if he understood the puny humans well enough. But this…the pipes may have been fewer in number, but were nearly ¾ the size of his own! The mighty beast growled. The only way for this to happen…"_the seal" _he thought. The botched sealing must be accelerating the transfer of his chakra to the boy. Upon further inspection, a massive smirk grew on his face. The Blonde human hadn't been able to separate his chakra.

Settling back on the floor, he closed his eyes, as he continued to study the seal. He would find out exactly what was happening, both to himself, and the flesh bag he was sealed in. "_At least this time the seal isn't designed to cause pain, unlike the last two"_, he thought briefly. No doubt as soon as the boy learned of his existence, he would try to demand his chakra. He could smell the opportunity.

He had waited five years to wake up. He could wait a bit longer before trying to escape.

* * *

A bleary-eyed Naruto slowly made his way out of the alley. The sun had only just risen, so none of the angry people were around. He'd learnt to rise early when he was three, so as to avoid the crowds that inevitably threw things at him to send him running. He started heading towards the restaurant district. Most of the time they threw out uneaten food, which he could scavenge from the dumpsters behind the various establishments. The ones owned by the fa...big boned people generally had the best food, and, because the portions were so large, the leftovers were plentiful.

Before he could move too much further he spotted some shinobi, most likely chuunin, jumping across the rooftops, heading to their posts around the village. As the largest hidden village, it was almost impossible to move without seeing a team of gennin doing the dreaded D-rank chores, a chuunin squad, or more rarely, an ANBU on patrol.

Naruto liked the animal masked people. Their attitude always seemed a bit too frosty for his tastes, but they seemed to respect him. Plus the masks were cool. He was five years old; he was allowed his outbursts dammit!

Almost on their own, his feet changed directions, heading towards the outskirts of the village, where the training grounds for shinobi were located. He absolutely loved watching shinobi spars, especially a male and female ANBU pair that had quite an obsession with swords. And he always laughed his ass off at the faces of freshly graduated gennin when the realized exactly how far above them their jonin sensei was.

Reaching training ground seven, he grinned, noticing a sleepy gennin team had just arrived. But if they were so early then…ah. "_It must be Dog-man"_, he thought to himself. The spiky silver-haired, Dog masked ANBU who was probably the most civil person to him in the whole village, was also the only person to be so late to _everything_. Three hours at least if it wasn't that important.

Apparently 'not that important' included gennin tests.

True to form, the man arrived some two and a half hours later, much to the ire of the hungry, sleep deprived, naïve gennin hopefuls. The man made one of his usual excuses, but Naruto, after following the man several times, knew why he was always so late. He was always so late. The man, whenever he had a free moment, went to stand by the stone monument on the very training field he was currently occupying. Naruto had taken a look at the stone after the man had left, but there were just names engraved on it. So why was the man so sad?

Back with the gennin, he could see the man explaining the rules of the test to trio. Having seen all this before, he knew that whether or not the gennin passed depended not on the two bells they were staring at, but on their ability to work together successfully to relieve the Jonin of them. But looking at them, the shared dislike of each other…he knew they wouldn't pass. "_Teamwork…like anyone would ever want to work with me"_, Naruto thought. Given how cool he thought Shinobi were, it was no surprise that he wanted to become one.

As he was about to leave, he saw the Jonin perform a set of hand signs, before vanishing in a swirl of leaves. He looked at the space the Jonin had previously occupied with wide eyes. That…was so COOL! Suddenly he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He could practically feel the killing intent in the air, but it vanished almost as soon as it arrived.

Jumping around, he saw the Jonin Leaning against the tree trunk, gazing impassively at him. "Sorry Dog-san", he said sheepishly, rubbing the back of head. The man's only visible eye widened briefly, before he turned it into one of those physically impossible eye-smiles of his. Most of the man's face was covered by a mask, and his left eye was covered by his ninja headband. Naruto thought he looked awesome, but at the same time wondered how the man lost his eye.

"Well, while I'm waiting for those three to find me, I thought I'd find out what you were doing here, seeing as this isn't your test", the man spoke, but without the usual harshness someone would receive for intervening in shinobi affairs.

Naruto chuckled nervously. The man wasn't angry at him, but he knew he'd have explain himself or be forced to leave.

"Well, I was walking past this morning when I saw them" he indicated the gennin "waiting so I figured I'd stay and watch you thrash them" he finished with a childish smirk. "Then I saw you use the swirly leaf thingy, which just looked so cool", he stated passionately, trying to perform the hand signs for himself.

The masked man watched, impressed. For only having seen the hand signs once, the boy was managing to replicate fairly accurately, even if they were a bit shaky. If he'd had his chakra unlocked he may have actually succeeded. Crashed into the floor or a tree, but succeeded.

"_Maybe…nah that would silly. But I suppose…it couldn't hurt to unlock his chakra before he joins the academy" _the man thought to himself.

"Naruto" he said, interrupting the boy, making him slip a hand sign.

"Yes Dog-san?" he asked.

"Call me Kakashi" the now identified Jonin said.

Naruto's eyes widened but before he could interrupt again, Kakashi launched into his proposal.

"Naruto, would you like me to unlock your chakra?"

Naruto looked at him, before asking the one question Kakashi should have known was coming, but was unprepared for.

"What's Chakra?"

Kakashi face palmed. Of course he didn't know. Preparing his words, he attempted to explain to the oddly attentive five-year-old what the thing that made most shinobi abilities possible was.

"Chakra is what shinobi and kunoichi use to do all their…cool, abilities. Like that…swirly leaf thing you saw, plus other cool things" Kakashi stated, almost gagging on the childish words.

Naruto frowned, appearing deep in thought. Never was more a ridiculous face found on a child. At first Kakashi thought he would refuse, but then he looked directly at the mysterious masked man, smiled, and spoke a two syllable word that would affect the course of history for the elemental nations.

"Okay".

Kakashi eye-smiled again, and stepped forward to put his hand on the boys shoulder, the gennin test all but forgotten. "_Besides"_ he thought, "_this is much more interesting"_.

Putting on a serious face, he began channelling chakra through his hand into Naruto. "Now Naruto, you might not have the most chakra, so be careful how much you use, or-"

He was promptly cut off, when a _visible _wave of chakra exploded from the child, knocking him away. This…this was almost as much as he had! And the boy was 5 for kami's sake! Lifting his headband to reveal his implanted Sharingan, he was forced to pull it back down almost immediately, for fear of being blinded. If a Hyuuga ever tried to find the boy…

He was shaken out of his funk by Naruto calling his name. "Sorry Naruto, what was that?" he said, trying to hide his shock.

Naruto frowned for a moment. He could tell the man was surprised, but he couldn't sense any malevolence, so he dismissed it.

"So how much chakra do I have Kakashi-san?" he asked politely.

He watched as the masked man hmm'd and stroked his chin, more for show than anything else. "Well Naruto…" he said. It amused him to no end how the boy was literally hanging off his words.

"…You have almost as much chakra as me" he stated proudly, eye-smiling proudly at the boy.

He nearly laughed out loud at the bug-eyed face the boy was making. "However… this also means that your control will be terrible, but you can always work on that" he stated in a very matter of fact tone.

Kakashi was pleasantly surprised when, instead of a massive outburst from the boy demanding that he tell him how to improve, he asked, rather politely too.

"Kakashi-san, could you please tell me how to do that?" he asked, not breaking eye contact while making the request.

Kakashi was impressed yet again by the boy. Naruto seemed to possess a drive to improve that would make even Gai green with envy. Well, greener, anyway.

He smirked to himself. "_Well, looks like another team will fail this year. Oh well" _he thought dismissively. He didn't consider himself teacher material.

"Alright Naruto. Now, the first exercise is called leaf balancing…"

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Hope you enjoyed it, please review.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

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Thank you again to everyone who is following and or favourited my story, and thank you to chuck2012, uncageduzu, Galler, Yomamma3, Cainsanity2016, anarion87, and KushinaHyugaUzumaki for reviewing.

Yomamma3: Pairing will only be NaruHina if I can find a way to write Hinata without her being the shy fan girl who uses Naruto to measure her own worth, and strength. Not that her and Naruto aren't good together, but we'll see what happens.

Cainsanity2016: Glad you like it, but at the moment he is still quite childish, so don't expect a master plan to bring peace to world. Maybe later.

KushinaHyugaUzumaki: I couldn't agree more. Even if he was ignored as a kid in the series, I find it difficult to believe that anyone could be that stupid. And if he has Kushina's personality, why not give him her hair colour?

* * *

_One month later_

Naruto cracked open his eyes, taking a look at his surroundings. He appeared to be in a clearing, most likely on the outskirts of Leaf, near one of the training grounds. He groaned as he sat up, clutching his chest. He was bruised and battered, but already he could feel his injuries fading.

Rising to his feet, he clutched at his head, recalling the events that led him to forest…

* * *

**_Flashback**_

* * *

He was looking once again for a place to sleep. "_I still don't understand why the matron through me out" _he thought bitterly. He could feel himself slipping into depression once again. Reaching inwards, he felt his chakra, pulsing, each throb of the mass of energy bringing warmth back to him.

He smiled. After Kakashi-san had unlocked his chakra for him, he'd done this at least once, every night before he went to sleep. It helped to stave off the worst of his ill feelings towards the villagers, and knowing that he had something that no-one could take from him was…reassuring.

Suddenly he hit the ground. Tasting blood on his lip, he scrambled to his tiny feet looking around for his assailant. He paled. One, two, three…six men. And from what he could smell, drunk out of their minds. One of them staggered forwards, before mumbling out sound that could barely be called words.

"Yoush…demon brvaat…come eeere…letsch teassh him a lesshin boooysch!"

Naruto's eyes widened. He turned to run, but one of the drunks threw a bottle at the back of his head. Not enough to draw blood, but he fell to ground all the same. He gasped out in pain as the first booted foot hit his ribs, and again, when a fist impacted his head. He couldn't even scream, the air being driven from his lungs with each blow.

After nearly ten minutes, one of the drunks miss-swung and accidently knocked out one of his friends. In the ensuing chaos, none of the men noticed the tiny, crimson form that crawled away, before sprinting madly away from the scene…

* * *

**_Flashback End**_

* * *

The blue-eyed red-head slumped against one of the nearby trees, tears streaking down across the whisker marks on his cheeks. "W-Why", he sobbed out, his breath hitching with the pain in his voice. _"I don't understand! Why do they hate me so much? I never did anything to them!"_ he thought, as he lay curled up amongst the tree roots.

He could feel sleep coming for him again, but one more question lingered in his mind.

Why did that man call him a demon?

In his dreams, he was floating. No gravity, no wind, no warmth, just…floating. Free of worry. And then he wasn't. Startled, he looked around. What he saw shocked him. Before him, in a large stone pool was…well, it was blue, and it shone like nothing he'd ever seen. Brighter than the sun, bluer than the sky, but strangely…choppy, bubbling and churning, as if it was being disturbed by something. Leaning over it, he reached out to put his hand in, curious as to what the strange liquid was. As his fingertips touched the surface he jerked them back, his mouth opened in surprise.

This feeling…it felt like…his Chakra! The same soft, reassuring warmth, the same… presence. Leaning forward, he slipped on the edge, falling face first into the liquid energy.

If barely touching it had felt good, then this…this was indescribable. He could feel! He knew where each and every drop of the energy was inside him, moving towards his aches and pains, replacing them with pure bliss. He closed his eyes, trying to hold on to the sensation, as if he could stay in such a state forever.

Suddenly, he felt another presence. Snapping his eyes open, he saw a flash of red amongst the blue. Or at least, he thought he did he couldn't be sure. His eyes widened in surprise. He was being pushed out! With a loud splash, he was thrown out and over the side of the pool.

He saw the ground coming up to meet him, before everything went black.

Groaning, he got up for the second time that day. Looking at the sun, it seemed to be just past midday. Oddly, he wasn't hungry. "_In fact…"_ he thought, looking himself over, _"I'm completely healed. But…?"_ he wondered. He'd always healed faster than anyone. Cuts had closed faster, and a bruise faded quicker than he knew was normal for anyone else.

Almost immediately the feeling of the chakra pool returned. He gasped, remembering how all his pain had just slipped away. Like it never happened. Looking around, he found a large, freshly fallen leaf not a meter away. Quickly grabbing it up before the wind could take it, he slapped it to his forehead, immediately focusing his chakra to the point of contact. Chakra control, as Kakashi had told him, was a must. '_After all, if two ninja have the same amount of chakra, and the same level of experience, end up using the same jutsu on each other…" _he'd paused, gazing expectantly at the diminutive red-head with that single eye of his.

Naruto liked Kakashi and all, but he got really irritated with the man when he did that. He sighed. The answer to Kakashi's question was the person with the better control would win, since they could control how they formed their chakra better, and use less chakra when doing so. But he still pitied the team that Kakashi would inevitably have to pass.

He barely managed to hold the leaf for 5 seconds before it fell back to the ground.

"_Dammit…I'll have to keep trying until I can do it for 3 hours, like Kakashi-san said!"_ he thought, resolute in determination.

Placing the leaf on his forehead, he tried again. This could also help him finally learn swirly leaf thing…

* * *

_Two weeks later…_

* * *

"Yes! I got it!" Naruto shouted, jumping up and down. Finally, after two weeks of practicing, he could hold a leaf to his head for 3 hours. While moving. Once he'd been able to get one leaf stabilised, he'd started doing laps around the training fields. The same level of control but in a more difficult scenario equals better control right?

Taking a moment to catch his breath, he allowed himself a smirk at his success. He knew that the sheer amount of chakra he possessed, gaining any measure of control over it would be painfully difficult. This brought him to another startling realisation. He had a lot of stamina. A whole, bucket-the-size-of-the-village full. He'd watched other shinobi do their morning workouts, and attempted to replicate their movements. While he couldn't perform any of the intense physical workouts, if only due to his age and size, he could outlast any Jonin in endurance exercises. By a ridiculously large margin.

The longest endurance exercise he'd ever observed had taken some 3 hours. Little Naruto, could do 5 hours. The miniature shinobi-in-training found that if he channelled chakra to his limbs, while running an endurance/obstacle course he'd formed for himself, he could eliminate the stiffness that the extreme exercise could usually bring on. Luckily for him then, that he'd found a handful of fruit trees nearby that he could use to feed himself. All that hard work made one hungry after all.

There were also other developments with the chakra pool. He could use it to monitor his chakra. Currently, after two weeks of solid chakra control exercises, the pool had lost some of the bubbles that usually appeared. Obviously, if he ever managed to get perfect control, the pool's surface would be completely flat. No bumps or ripples. And it helped that he could tell how much chakra he'd used by the 'water level', even if it never dropped more than a centimetre.

Running through the hand signs he'd seen Kakashi use that day, he prepared to vanish in a swirl of leaves. He had to push his fingers to make unfamiliar shapes, which wasn't easy. Finally completing the sequence, he channelled his chakra…

…and appeared, ten meters away, with his face in a tree.

This would take quite a bit of practice.

And maybe more chakra control.

* * *

_One Month later…_

* * *

Ever since his disastrous first attempt at the jutsu, he trained himself into the ground. Endurance training twice a day, and he'd added a leaf to his chakra control training every day. At the moment, he was finishing his last lap around the training ground, with thirty leaves stuck to various parts of his body. All this other training wasn't to say that he'd neglected practicing the other jutsu.

So far he'd figured out a few key elements that would help him to successfully use the jutsu. One, he need to picture where he was going, else he'd slam into whatever happened to be in front of him at the time. Two, the amount of chakra he put into the jutsu would depend on how far he went. Three, he could alternate between leaves and smoke, but there seemed to be far too much of both to be useful. After all, if an enemy can see where you disappeared and where you are appearing they can catch you unawares. Not a good thing.

And fourthly, and the reason he hadn't practiced the jutsu in over a week, the reason for the masses of smoke or leaves…Chakra control. Even the work he'd done the first two weeks hadn't been enough. Skidding to a stop, he took a moment to catch his breath. As proud as he was at himself, doing so much exercise was _exhausting_.

He went through the hand signs for the jutsu once more, far more fluidly than his first two attempts. Whenever he took a break, he practiced, improving in both speed and dexterity. Focusing on his destination, a rooftop on the edge of the village, he finished the hand signs, channelled his chakra…and vanished, leaving a handful of leaves in his wake.

* * *

_Rooftop_

* * *

As he cleared the smoke from his eyes, Naruto caught sight of several leaves falling to the ground around him. Even the smoke was dispersing faster. But what really had him grinning, what nearly made his heart leap from his chest in happiness, was _where_ he was.

His location being smack-bang in the middle of the rooftop he'd aimed for.

It was the end of the day, so he sat back against the edge of the roof, watching as the last golden rays of the sun danced across the skyline. As a stray beam caught on the mountain, the faces of the four Hokage lit up, as if on fire.

Looking up at the monument to the Leafs greatest ninja, Naruto Uzumaki knew what his goal was.

Surpass them _all._

* * *

Deep inside the seal, the mightiest Bjuu furrowed its brow. However bare it may have been, its cage was a great improvement on the previous one. But he really hadn't expected the boy to start using chakra so soon. He'd even managed to gain a small measure of control over it. But, and the fox growled at this, the boy using chakra meant that he would drain the Bjuu of his at a faster rate. At the moment, it wasn't enough to be a danger, but eventually…

The fox growled, deeper this time. The nerve of this…this…_child_! And what was worse was that the boy didn't even realise it. He slammed against the bars. Curse the Fourth Hokage. But then again, what else could you expect from a _Human_.

His entire existence, he had been enslaved. To that Uchiha, sealed into the wife of the First Hokage, then the future wife of the Fourth, and now his spawn. But always to hatred. It was as much a part of him as his tails. Hatred for humanity. They feared what they couldn't control, and when left too long, fear became…more. The fox closed its eyes, sinking to floor. After the tailed beasts had been set free, he'd seen how the humans honoured his father's sacrifice. The wrath of nature, he'd been called, as he ravaged their towns and cities. How _dare _they.

But for now, he would focus on the boy. The way he felt someone's chakra depended on what their intentions were towards him. Usually with humans, it was cold and sharp, fear.

But this boy…it was like feeling the warmth of the sun on his fur.

He would just have to wait and see.

* * *

Naruto stood up from the rooftop. He'd only been there a few minutes, but with the sun on his skin, and his wonderful chakra, he was more contented than ever. He flickered away, towards somewhere with food.

Too bad he didn't notice a spiky silver-haired, masked man on the roof across from him, his eye almost popping out of his socket.

* * *

Thanks for reading everyone, let me know how I did. Keep well.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

* * *

Thank you to KushinaHyugaUzumaki, Kunoichi of the Moonlit Night, Meteorthunder3, uncageduzu, Reginald D. Uchiha, chuck2012, Dyani91, MoKhan97, and Galler for reviewing the third chapter of Journey of a Jinchuuriki. I really am grateful to all of you.

Uncageduzu: I stopped where I did so that I can lead directly on from that point in this chapter, rather than using a time skip. And the last thing I want to do is make Naruto too powerful too quickly. I doubt I'll use the NaruHina Pairing, unless I can change Hinata's backstory in such a way that she isn't a shy, stalking fan girl. But Naruto is five, there isn't going to be a pairing for quite a while.

Reginald D. Uchiha: I completely understand your concerns. But any pairing will have a valid set of (new/ish) circumstances leading up to it. With Shion, she liked him because of his attitude. Shift him, and you shift pretty much everything that happens in the Naruto-verse after he's born. I appreciate the input nonetheless.

chuck2012: He'll learn Fuuinjutsu on his own, but he won't master it until a while after the academy. He will (hopefully) become more of an all-purpose shinobi, but fuuinjutsu will help him with pranks, and massively improve his trap skills. If I can bring his skill up high enough then he will graduate early, with an apprenticeship.

Galler: Given the reasons for Kakashi's behaviour, I can't find it in myself to write him as an a#####e, but with a more mature Naruto around, let's see if he improves. I haven't written seriously before, but before I started university I read books like there was no tomorrow. I kind of became a bit of a self-critic when writing this. It made me very happy when I got so many positive reviews.

* * *

Oh, and I'd like to report that I've received my first threat/flame. I assume it's the same guy, since he followed up on his first review.

Email 1:

From: Guest

:this trash has been reported since you are a punk a** little b*** who sucks c*** and you are a pathetic punk a** f*** Hinata fan boy this s*** will be REPORTED UNTIL YOUR B*** A** IS BANNED AND THE STORY REMOVED FROM THIS SITE.

Email 2:

:trash has been reported either stop writting now or i will make sure your b*** a** is banned.

Thank you for censoring your emails. But seriously, if you insult someone that freely, why are you on a website that encourages positive constructive criticism, which you obviously seem to have forgotten. Rather than acting like a child, you can actually tell me why you don't like my story.

* * *

On to the next chapter, hope you enjoy!

* * *

Appearing amidst a shower of in an alley behind a restaurant, a shinobi one, judging by the appearance of the people walking past, Naruto stood grinning at his success. His first successful jutsu! Sure, he had a lot more work to do before it was perfect. Unfortunately for him, the restaurant had a very busy bar. Bar equals drunkards. Now, most drunkards get violent when they see something they don't like. And when you got a drunken shinobi who was still carrying several leftover kunai…

For the first few moments, Naruto could tell that something was wrong, along with sensing some –muted – anger. And then the pain hit him. He gasped, drawing forth fresh throbs of pain. The kunai sat lodged in his shoulder, buried almost to the hilt. Had the person who'd thrown it actually been sober, he would have been dead. Stumbling away in the opposite direction, out of the corner of his eye he saw three chuunin leaning against each other, kunai held in reverse grips in their hands, ready to attack him. Gripping his shoulder, tears streaming down his face at the pain, he sprinted away from the trio.

As soon as he passed the nearest corner, he ducked behind some trash cans, watching with a thundering heart as the group skidded past his position, and out onto the street beyond. He closed his eyes, sobbing as he sank to the ground. "W-What did I-I do?" he mumbled to himself. He knew about the hatred directed at him, but to actually try and…"_they were trying to kill me…actually kill me…"_ he stopped sobbing, as the shock set in. Grabbing the Kunai, he wrenched it out of his shoulder, barely holding back a flood of tears as the blood started flowing freely.

"I…I have t-to get out o-of here!" he screamed before he took off running, not caring where his legs took him.

Just so long as it was far, far away from those shinobi.

* * *

He must have run for hours. The moon had long since reached its apex, and was beginning its slow descent towards the horizon. Panting as he finally stopped running, Naruto leaned back against a tree, trying to catch his breath. After a few minutes, he began looking around, trying to figure out where he was. His wound had closed up already, leaving a white line of scar tissue. He must have subconsciously channelled chakra to it, he remarked bitterly. He shouldn't have needed to do that in the first place!

He frowned, not recognising this part of the forest. The trees were…massive, taller than many buildings in the village! The place also seemed to radiate an oppressive aura, putting him on edge almost immediately. In the distance he spied a fence beyond which appeared to be flat ground, similar to…

He paled at the realisation of exactly where he was. He'd seen this place from a distance once before, right on the edge of the training grounds. He'd seen Jonin avoid the place, and he'd heard the sounds of what he imagined were massive animals inside the fenced off area.

Which at the moment were ominously silent.

Naruto's eyes darted around, his heart beating in his chest like a drum with the adrenaline flooding his system. "_No no no no no no! Please no, not here!"_ he screamed in his head, not willing to make any sound that might provoke the creatures into attacking. He could feel them, just beyond his vision, watching. Waiting. There was no anger, just an insatiable…_hunger_.

Tightening his grip on the Kunai in his hand, which he still hadn't let go of, he came to a strange, terrifying realisation.

He was FOOD.

They didn't hate him. He was just fair game. And he had to GET OUT!

Jumping towards the fence, he started sprinting towards freedom. He barely managed to get five meters when he on his back, the breath shaken from his lungs and his eyes nearly knocked out of head.

Blinking to clear his vision, he almost wished he hadn't. Because doing so brought him face to face with the thing that had knocked him down.

Standing nearly two meters off the ground, with most of its long, scaly, muscled body coiled beneath it, was the largest, meanest, angriest snake Naruto had seen in his entire life. Its ivory fangs, the length of kitchen knives, were dripping with a sizzling poison. Its eyes were an angry purple, matching its scaly hide, and gleamed with a cold intelligence and cunning, that only a reptile could possess.

Naruto stared back into its eyes. The standoff lasted barely a moment, before the snake realised that it had a potential meal sitting right in front of it. And it lunged.

It was only reflex that saved the crimson-haired boy. The arm with the kunai came up, just as the snake reached him. And then it slammed into him harder than anything he'd ever felt. He could feel that his ribs were at the very least cracked, and one of the beast's fangs had pierced through his side, injecting some of its debilitating poison.

It was a minute later that Naruto realised that the creature wasn't moving.

Looking down, he forced down the bile in his throat. His hand had driven the kunai deep into the roof of the snake's mouth, while its strike had raked a fang up his hip, before sinking deep into his side. Panicking, he ripped out the kunai, blood splashing across his face. He hacked away at the snake, trying to cut the fang off so that he could free himself.

Even as he wriggled out from under the snake, his mind was registering the pain the poison was causing. Scrambling over the fence, he felt revulsion at what he'd. The sticky, coppery scent of the blood was _everywhere. _

Losing himself in shock, he ran for the second time that night. It was only as the sun rose that he finally collapsed to the ground, too drained to even cry himself to sleep.

* * *

Kakashi was feeling unusually pensive as he walked to the memorial stone. When he'd told Naruto about the leaf exercise and unlocked his chakra for him, he'd hadn't expected much. Maybe the boy would practice a bit, but never in his wildest dreams had he imagined the boy would improve his control so much that he could _successfully _perform the body-flicker technique. And on top of that, the boy only knew the hand signs, he hadn't explained any of the theory behind it to him.

No wonder then he was rendered speechless when he saw the boy disappear in a cloud of leaves. Apparently his control wasn't that good, if he left such a large signature behind.

He sighed to himself. He must be one of the few people in the village who knew who Naruto really was, his heritage. The boy should be a hero, the only thing between the village, and the most destructive force in the elemental nations. Instead, he was perceived as that very force, the thing that had cost hundreds their lives five years ago.

The civilians hated him. Apparently not even the Sandaime's explanation of the sealing convinced them that the demon had not been reborn as a child. Most of the senior ninja respected him for his burden. After all, the boy was the reason that more people hadn't died. The real problem lay with the chuunin and gennin forces at the time of the attack. Many of them had lost family, and it soured their views on the boy. Most of them had the sense not to attack Naruto, but it was only a matter of time before something happened.

Approaching the stone, Kakashi immediately knew something was wrong. His nose was almost as good as an Inuzuka's, and currently, the pervading scent in the area was that of _blood_.

A LOT of blood.

Sprinting forward, he saw a trembling heap at the base of the stone, soaked in the stuff. His visible eye widened as he got closer. It was a _child_. Who the HELL would do this to a child! Reaching quivering boy, he pulled pulling him over. Scanning his body, he could see only two wounds, one in the shoulder, which looked to be like a kunai, and a puncture wound, most likely from the massive snake fang lying next to the boy.

As shocking as the fact that the wounds were already healed, the fact that the offending fang was from one of the most poisonous species in the Forest of Death, and how much blood the boy was covered in, Kakashi's breath hitched when he recognised exactly who was lying shaking in front of him.

Naruto.

The idea of a hospital passed through his mind for but a moment, before it was discarded. Clearly the boy was suffering the effects of a deadly poison, and the hospital staff were more likely to help it do its work rather than help the boy.

His wounds were already healed, so the poison was a priority. Summoning some of his dogs to guard the boy, he raced off to find the villages foremost poison expert, someone who was almost as much of a pariah as Naruto himself.

Anko Mitarashi, the snake Mistress of the Hidden Leaf.

* * *

_**Naruto's Poison induced dream**_

* * *

Naruto's eyes snapped open. Arms, check. Legs, check. Head, check. Body, check. But the sky…

A bloody crimson, with ash falling from the noxious clouds like rain. Feeling it burn, he quickly tried to wipe it off, cringing when he only succeeded in smearing it all over himself. Spying a door set in a large brick structure, he sprinted for it, more ash landing on him as he went, burning skin and clothes indiscriminately.

Reaching the door, he frantically tried to open it. "D-Dammit, its locked" he panted out. His skin felt like he was being slowly roasted, inch by inch, till he would be burned alive. Screaming in frustration, he gave one final push, when the door suddenly gave way. Losing his balance, he tumbled through the doorway, even as the door ominously slammed shut behind him.

Inside, Naruto felt a shiver of fear. This place felt…familiar. Taking a step down the corridor, the walls lined with several, identical doors. He felt a sense of foreboding. Reaching towards the handle of the first door, he paused. It felt…like standing over a deep dark hole…and the _temptation_, the insatiable, damning curiosity that made you want to jump, even if you didn't know how deep it was. Placing his hand on the doorknob, he withdrew it as if stung.

Flashes of memory…trying to play with the other kids, but they were pulled away, the staff sending looks of disgust and loathing his way…waiting silently in line to receive his breakfast, only to be ignored by the lady on duty…the Matron, throwing the 'Demon' out, which 'shouldn't have been allowed to stay near innocent children in the first place'.

His eyes widened, his breath quickened, and his mouth gaped open stupidly. He knew EXACTLY where he was.

His hell on Earth. AKA the Orphanage.

"Where do you think you're going…Demon!" spat a voice, oozing malice.

Shaking like a leaf, Naruto turned around. Standing between him and the door was the Matron. However elderly she might have been, she looked absolutely terrifying. Thin lips pulled back in a snarl, beady grey eyes narrowed in rage. And behind her…

Naruto gulped. Behind her stood the entire staff of the orphanage. Behind them stood some drunken civilians. And behind them, stood the shinobi. Everyone with the exact same expression.

Naruto took a step backwards. The Mixed mob of killers and carers took a step forward. Another step back. Another step forwards.

And then they charged.

Spinning on his heels, Naruto sprinted away, his tiny feet trying to outrun the mob. He tried to channel his chakra, but it wasn't responding! Passing by a door, he saw the old man who used to visit him, standing just inside. He was about to run inside when he saw the expression on the old man's face shift into an expression of combined apathy, and guilt.

Before the door was shut in his face.

The pounding feet were closer now. He daren't look back.

Passing by another door, he saw the children from the orphanage playing together. Almost as one they raised their eyes to the doorway. Hopeful, Naruto met their gaze, only to be met with sneers of disgust, the same one might give to an insect before that door too was shut in his face.

He could practically feel their breath on the back of his neck.

Diving into the next open door, he slammed it behind him.

Silence.

Turning around however, he found himself face to face with yet another crowd. People he'd seen in shops, on the streets, through windows, at restaurants. All of them where here. And they were whispering.

But he could hear every conspiritory mutter, see every hateful gaze sent his way.

_Monster_

_Murderer_

_Beast_

_Should have killed him_

_He could hurt the children_

_Demon Fox_

Looking back, he wasn't greeted by his shadow. It had changed. It was now a fox.

A Fox with nine tails.

He fell to his knees, hyperventilating at the accusations. "_But I can't be. I never did any of those things, I never hurt anyone!" _he thought, trying to rein in his panic. Closing his eyes, he searched, felt in his innermost being, looking for any trace of his chakra.

"_There!"_ he thought, grabbing hold of a small sliver of the energy, feeling a tug on his entire being.

Opening his eyes, he saw the chamber with his chakra pool. But it had changed. On one side, there was his chakra, which seemed a fair bit larger than the last time he'd looked. But there was a pipe, pouring a purple liquid into it, mixing with it, adding to it. It was little more than a than you would get from a slightly open tap, but where was it coming from?

He tentatively followed the pipe, the ash, mob, and crowd still fresh in his mind. As such he didn't notice where he was going, until he bumped into a wall.

Looking up, he saw that it was another pool, but the sides were so high that he couldn't see the top of the pool. Looking to the side, he saw a set of cracked steps, leading to the top of the pool. As he ascended the stairs, he noticed that the sides of the pool seemed to be re-enforced. Reaching the top, he saw why.

It was chakra, no doubt about it. But it was red. Redder than blood, than fire.

It raged against the sides, both deeper and further across than his own by magnitudes. Writhing and bubbling, more out of control than his, but strangely…focused, as if dedicated to a purpose.

Before he could touch it, he heard his name, whispered out, but growing in volume, till his was clutching at his ears, shouting for it to stop.

And then he woke up.

* * *

_**End of Naruto's Poison Induced Dream**_

* * *

Forcing open his eyes, Naruto could see the blurry shapes of two people standing over him. He nearly panicked when he saw the unfamiliar woman, but calmed down when he saw the spiky silver hair that could only belong to one person in the entire village.

"K-Kakashi-san" he managed to croak out, before curling up into a ball, crying his eyes out.

* * *

This was a difficult chapter to write. I needed this to happen for my story to work, but doing that to anyone, let alone Naruto feels terrible. Sorry about the dark chapter. The next one should be more upbeat. Let me know what you think. Took me two days to update, had work, and a christening for my baby cousin to go to. Keep well, and please review.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

* * *

Thank you to newbrotherhood, Reginald D. Uchiha, Scarease, Galler, Travis9000, Kunoichi of the Moonlit night, and thor94 for reviewing.

To TheBeardedAsshat, choose a new profile name, and instead of just saying terrible, you could give actual reasons as to why you don't like it. You are under no obligation to read my story, but I appreciate constructive criticism.

Newbrotherhood: You actually know who that was? How has he not been reported?

Reginald D. Uchiha: I really appreciate the fact that you wrote such a long review. As far as forgiveness goes, he won't hand it out like candy, but if he thinks someone deserves it…he will be far more logical about everything. With Sasuke, he was left alone for years with the entire Uchiha library, and yet he only knows the fireball and some taijutsu, and has to be taught chakra control. The only Uchiha that actually worked for their strength were Itachi, Madara, and Izuna. Maybe Mikoto and Shisui as well. As to the rookie 12? Naruto has changed. He's more mature, and a lot smarter. See what happens.

Galler: I agree with you completely, but he will be more light grey than dark. And this will NOT be a yaoi story. Case closed. Sorry to everyone who wants that, but as a straight guy, I cannot write that.

Thor94: Yes, definitely. Yes it is him. Maybe not closer, he definitely won't be a grandfather figure, but he will try to earn Naruto's trust and forgiveness. We'll see if he succeeds.

Kunoichi of the Moonlit Night: Absolutely, but in cannon he just buried his 'darkness'. Now, with him being more attentive, he has to confront it earlier. Yes he will meet it. And yes he will, but not properly for a while. Same with Kakashi. They're more of pleasant acquaintances at the moment.

* * *

On to the story, hope you enjoy it!

* * *

The Nine-Tailed Fox was both angry, and confused, which for it was highly unusual. It had been alerted when it felt the pull on its chakra, consistent with an injury of some sort that had been present in both its previous host, and now its current one. It was a relatively minor wound, as well as some annoying poison, but it was barely enough to be a bother. _"The boy's Uzumaki chakra must be extremely strong"_ he mused. It was still infuriating that he could draw on it like this. But through the chakra linking them, binding them, he felt something he had never experienced before.

Fear. Pure, unadulterated terror.

He was the Nine-Tailed Fox, the Mightiest Bjuu, a force of nature itself. He had no reason to fear anything. The seals of his previous hosts had been so tight that they had prevented him from sensing anything. But even as filtered as it was by the seal, it was still there. Fear, of…humans.

That was what had the fox confused. Why would his jailer, the only thing standing between him, and the rest of the overgrown apes, fear his own kind? Not fear of rejection, not fear of death…fear of the pain that the hated him, without knowing _why_.

Suddenly, the fear was partially overtaken by curiosity. The boy was dangerously close to coming in contact with his chakra. The beast growled. The boy surely knew of his prisoner, and he still _dared _to approach him. But there was a lack of…greed; the lust for power that he automatically assumed would be there. And then the boy vanished, returned to the waking world.

He laid his head on his paws. It wasn't enough to merely guess at what was happening, what had already happened. He needed to know. For the first time in centuries, millennia even, he _had _to know more.

He needed to speak with his host.

* * *

All Naruto could feel was that he was resting against something hard. His body was aching, his mind sluggish. _"Please…please let that have been a dream"_ he begged. He didn't want to wake up, and find that the mob, the people's harsh voices, had all been real.

He cringed, when he realised two people speaking near him, but relaxed when he recognised Kakashi's voice. He didn't know who the second one belonged to, but suspected that it might be the woman he'd seen, if she'd stuck around.

Keeping his eyes tightly shut, he pretended to be asleep, straining his ears to hear their words.

"Okay Kakashi, now that I've helped the brat, what in the name of Kami happened to him. I'd know that fang anywhere and he shouldn't have been anywhere near that place!"

"I don't know, Anko" now Naruto at least had a name to go with the face. "I was walking to the stone when I found him lying there, covered in blood, that fang lying next to him. Can you imagine what they'd do to him at the hospital? You're the only person in the village who's so knowledgeable with poisons, especially snake based ones."

Suddenly they went quiet, before Naruto felt a hand on his shoulder. Cracking a single eye open, he saw Kakashi crouched down in front of him. "Hey, Naruto" the Cyclops said. "You're finally awake. What happened, you look terrible", the man asked quietly, with one his impossible eye smiles.

The memories of the previous night came flooding back. Naruto barely stifled a sob, but the comforting hand on his shoulder allowed him to maintain some composure. "H-Hey Kakashi-san. I-I um...well" Kakashi sat down in front of the quivering child. Naruto could see the woman, Anko standing in the background, trying not to look interested.

"Naruto, this is Anko Mitarashi, she helped with the poison in your system" the masked man stated, waving a hand to introduce the woman. She just gave a gruff nod in his direction.

"Um…pleasure to meet you Anko-san. And thank you for helping me" Naruto whispered, his head bowed. She may have helped him, but if his dream had shown him anything, that didn't necessarily mean that she didn't hate him.

"Yeah, sure thing brat"

Naruto's eyes shot up. Now that he got a proper look at her, he could see that she was dressed in…not very much. A mesh shirt, a short orange skirt, and beige trench coat made her outfit. And her headband of course. Her purple hair was done up in a high, spiky pony tail, two short bangs on either side of her face. She was frowning, but Naruto couldn't sense any ill-will from her. Just curiosity, and…was that just a tiny bit of concern.

Feeling Kakashi's hand press gently on his shoulder, he focused back on his face. The man did seem genuinely concerned, and even slightly guilty. "Naruto, what happened to you" he asked, a little more firmly, but lacking any harshness.

Naruto bowed his head, and began his story. The successful body-flicker attempt, the restaurant, the chuunin trio, the kunai in his shoulder, the running. And then the forest. His terror at being surrounded by animals that could almost certainly tear him to pieces, the overshadowing form of the massive serpent. And his first kill, even if it was an animal, a predator, trying its very best to turn him into a meal. The pain of the fang in his side, getting worse and worse, until he finally stopped running. Only to fall into a completely different nightmare.

He was sniffing at this point on the brink of tears.

Kakashi may have looked calm, but inside he was furious. How could the Hokage, the orphanage, have allowed something like this to happen? To a child! And not to mention the damage the poison may have done to his psyche, if Naruto's nightmare was anything to go by. Looking at Anko, he could see she was barely restraining herself. She wanted to go to this boys _supposed _caretakers, and show them why she was called the Snake Mistress. She could accept them rejecting her, she'd gotten used to it over the years, but _this_.

"Naruto, let's get you back to the orphanage, you need to rest" Kakashi said. This way, he could have a word with the matron about Naruto. But both adults became suspicious when Naruto stiffened at the mention of the place.

"Kakashi-san, please…I can't go back there, besides…I don't stay there anymore", Naruto said, bowing his head in shame. He couldn't stand it, having to explain what happened, and _still_ not knowing why. Kakashi glanced at Anko, sharing a look with her that conveyed his dread. _"If not at the orphanage, then…where…Kami, please don't tell me..."_

"Naruto…have you…have you been living on the streets?" he asked, hoping beyond all reason that the answer would be no. His knuckles tightened when Naruto head still bowed, nodded the affirmative.

He had to talk to the Hokage about this.

* * *

Naruto was walking meekly behind Anko. Kakashi had spoken with her briefly before leaving, something she'd looked none too happy about. Currently, they were walking through one of the poorer areas of the village. Everywhere Naruto looked, the buildings were in various states of disrepair, and there were many…questionable people standing around on the sides of the street.

Suddenly, Anko turned to him, stopping right outside a small bar. "Wait here a second" she stated, frowning down at him for a moment, before disappearing inside the bar. Shuffling his feet nervously, he looked around. Most of the people were ignoring him, but the rest were watching him carefully, as if sizing him up. Uncomfortably reminded of the creatures in the forest, where the snake had attacked him, he met their gaze, trying to project at least some confidence. If he didn't appear helpless, maybe they wouldn't go for him, right?

Before he could check their reactions, he was distracted by a sweet smell, like that of candy or cake. He was greeted with the sight of Anko plucking some sort of coloured dumpling off a skewer, chewing lightly. If the satisfied expression on her face was anything to go by, it was good. And she appeared to have an entire bag of the stuff.

"Anko-san…what is that" he asked, pointing at the skewer.

Anko stopped, looking at him incredulously, before her face split into a happy grin. "This, brat" she stated reverently, make Naruto frown at her choice of nickname for him, "is Dango, the greatest food in the world!" She finished with a flourish, making several bystanders glance at her in bewilderment.

Much to hers, however, Naruto just nodded, before looking around, waiting for her to lead him on.

"Come on brat, let's get back to the stone, we can meet up with Kakashi there" said to him, still watching for a reaction. She received none, other than a curt nod that showed he understood. "_Okay, after all this he's bound to be messed up but…"_ she thought.

Some of her cases at the Torture and Interrogation Department were easier than this, and she was still a rookie.

They made the journey in awkward –for Anko anyway- silence. Upon finally reaching the memorial stone, Anko reached into the bag for the last skewer. Still nothing from the red-head. Sighing to herself, she held it out to him, only to receive a look of confusion from the blue-eyed boy. Rolling her eyes, she said "Come brat if you don't take it now, I'm going to finish all of it".

That seemed to do the trick. The boy grabbed the skewer like he was starving, which, Anko realised was probably not far from the truth. But before the first dumpling even touched his lips he paused. Raising an eyebrow, Anko was about to ask what was wrong, when he looked up at her, smiled lightly, and said thank you. Her other eyebrow joined the first high on her forehead.

Maybe this wouldn't be so bad.

* * *

Kakashi was shown into the Hokage's office by a chuunin guard. The Sandaime Hokage was old now, but he probably had a decade or so left in him, before he went back into retirement. Kakashi knew that as one of the village's elite Jonin, and former ANBU Captain, he would be in line for candidacy, but by that time, there would be several other, more promising shinobi. And that said nothing about Jiraiya, or even Lady Tsunade.

The old man glanced up from his paperwork to see who it was, before diving right back in.

"How can I help today Kakashi?" said the old man tiredly.

Kakashi needed to be careful. After the Nine-Tails attack, the Sandaime had found his wife, Biwako Sarutobi, dead, in the chamber in which Naruto had been born. After two shinobi wars and a term as Hokage, the old man had no doubt blamed Naruto for her death, if only indirectly. Someone who should have been a grandson to the old man was pushed aside, ignored in favour of grief.

"It concerns Naruto, Hokage-sama" Kakashi said tentatively. The old man sighed and put down his pen, folding his hands in an indication that Kakashi should continue. "I found him this morning by the memorial stone…"

* * *

"And that, brat, is how you break a prisoner" Anko stated proudly, missing the slightly green face that Naruto was sporting.

He'd asked her what she did at T&I. Boy did he regret it. Sure he now knew how effective poison could be, but some of the other things she was talking about…

They were still waiting at the training ground for Kakashi. Anko however was bored, and she still didn't believe that the brat had learned the body-flicker technique at the tender age of five. "Hey, brat" she began smirking at his expression. There was no way she'd stop calling him that. Not for a few years anyway. "Let's see you do that technique of Kakashi's"

The boy looked at her for a moment, before grinning, and getting to his feet. Much to Anko's shock, he got all the hand signs down perfectly, and at the speed of a chuunin no less. But when he appeared behind her in a swirl of leaves, her jaw dropped. "_5 months….5 fucking months, and he learns a technique that most chuunin can only perform a few times. How much chakra does this kid have?"_ she thought. And he wasn't even winded. If he had this much now….

"Anko-san…you might want to close your mouth before something flies in" came a smug voice. Looking at the brat she could see his eyes sparkling with mirth. Her eyes narrowed. "_Let's see if he can do tree-climbing so well. And if he can't well…more entertainment for me, hehe" s_he thought to herself, gaining a sadistic grin that put Naruto on edge.

"Now, brat…"

"_I'm so screwed…"_

* * *

Kakashi's walk back from his meeting from the Hokage was a long one. Even his precious orange book, which he read almost everywhere was absent from his hand. The entire journey he was trying to figure out what to tell Naruto. As he approached the training ground, he was distracted from his thoughts by Anko's rather loud grumbling. Something about impossible brats and such.

Although to be fair, when he saw what was going on, he wasn't much better.

Naruto was standing on the _underside_ of a tree branch, grinning like a lunatic.

After the novelty of the situation wore off, Naruto jumped down to stand next to Anko. He frowned when he sensed…sadness coming from Kakashi, and apprehension from Anko. Looking up at the elite Jonin's single eye, he asked "Kakashi –san, what's wrong?"

The Jonin dropped his gaze to the ground. He saw Anko put her hand on the boys shoulder, in a somewhat comforting manner. Both of them seemed to sense that what he was about to say would be nothing good.

"Naruto…the Hokage says that since the orphanage has not indicated that any child has left, and that since no-one has come forward about last night, that there is nothing he can do" Kakashi stated bluntly. The boy was intelligent enough that sugar-coating the situation would be useless.

Anko's hand on the boys shoulder tightened a fraction. How could the Hokage do this to child! "_The next time I see that old bastard…"_ she thought, but before she could continue that train of thought she was stopped by a small hand tugging on the sleeve of her trench coat. Looking down, she saw the little red head looking up at her, shaking his head. He was trying to put on a brave face, but anyone could see how badly this was affecting him.

Kakashi's guilt was compounded by the fact that, as a critical part of ANBU, especially so soon after the Nine-Tails attack, he couldn't take care of the boy. His last mission alone had lasted five months, how was he supposed to leave a kid behind? Not that he could adopt him anyway, there was a law against that, passed by the council that said no one would be allowed to, lest they 'use the boy, and upset the balance of power in the village'. Right.

Anko's fury had abated somewhat, but she couldn't help but feel sorry for the boy. She was about to talk to him again when he started edging away. "I-I…I have to go…I have to…" he muttered, his eyes tearing up, before he sprinted off. Anko was about to run after him, when Kakashi held his arm in front of her.

Almost snarling at the man, she turned to give him an earful, but the sorrowful look on his face stopped her. "Let him go Anko…I'll have my summons follow him to make sure he stays out of trouble. Just…let him be alone for a while"

She looked back in the direction Naruto had run off. No-one deserved this. Least of all a child. Least of all a child who shouldered one of the worst burdens in the world.

* * *

Reaching his clearing of trees, Naruto sank to the ground, and finally burst into tears. Why him? Why was it always him! He was confronted by a harsh truth. Kakashi and Anko, as much as they tried seemed unable to help him, and he was pretty sure no one else was willing to. Therefore, he would have to help himself. Wiping away the last of his tears, his face set in a determined expression, he made a promise.

He would train himself into the ground, till he couldn't move, till he could defeat anyone who came after him. So that he wouldn't get hurt like that again.

So that he wouldn't have to rely on the help of others.

If he could control his chakra like Anko told him, with the surface walking…oh the possibilities.

* * *

Inside the seal, the Fox was yet again flummoxed by its host. Nervousness, followed by a rare serving of happiness, then by an overwhelming flood of despair. What in name of Kami caused the young flesh bag to feel _that _bad? But it was the nest feeling that made the Fox just slightly impressed at the boy.

Determination. Unyielding and insurmountable. Whatever the boy had decided to do, there would be no stopping him. This would be a very interesting _Human _to watch.

Even if the Fox hated him, he might just have given the boy a smidgen of respect.

* * *

"Thanks Pakkun. Let Anko know would you?" he said to the nin-dog. So Naruto was training. Not too much of a surprise. But according to the small dog, the kid's determination was almost frightening. "_Maybe…maybe I should introduce him to seals. Even if I can't do much else, I can start him out in that. And since he's an Uzumaki…"_

He suspected it would be a similar situation as the body flicker technique. If only Kakashi knew what he just caused.

* * *

Anko stared at the spot Kakashi's nin-dog had disappeared. So the brat was training. She smirked. The kid was a resilient little…

She wondered if the kid might like a small job. She'd have to speak to Ibiki tomorrow. Apparently healing someone who was poisoned was difficult.

Who knew?

* * *

Again, a slightly dark chapter, sorry about that. I started writing and it just…happened. Naruto's relationship with Kakashi and Anko will take a while to develop, but there will be others as well.

Hope you enjoyed it nonetheless, please let me know what you think.

Keep well, keep reading.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

* * *

Thanks again to everyone who read my story, and to KushinaHyugaUzumaki, Kunoichi of the Moonlit Night, thor94, Reginald d. Uchiha, Scarease, chuck2012, halfwayparanoid, crazywolf1991, and thestorymaker2 for reviewing.

KushinaHyugaUzumaki: The reason I didn't show their conversation is because this is a Naruto fic, so he won't know what they said. Just to make it as realistic as possible. Fuuinjutsu will next chapter, and as for abilities…maybe, but I refuse to write a 'gets ability, is now god' story. Not a bad idea though.

Kunoichi of the Moonlit Night: Glad you agree. The Hokage is choosing to ignore the situation out of grief. I mean he survived two world wars and tenure as Hokage, only to lose his wife because –at least he thinks so- of Naruto.

Thor94: No probably not. A case of too little too late maybe. Next mob won't be for a while, but he will also be smarter about avoiding them.

Reginald D. Uchiha: It's not bashing so much as…a harsher reality, at least I hope so. He won't have much love for the village, but some people will redeem themselves to him. He will plan his future once he gets older though. As for the daimyo thing, I think there is one fic where he ends up as one, and is also a puppeteer.

* * *

On to the story, please enjoy.

* * *

Naruto woke up to the smell of wet grass. As uncomfortable as it was, he was getting used to sleeping on the forest floor. Luckily the roots of a nearby tree covered a large space beneath, which had become his home for the foreseeable future. Crawling out of the space, he got to work. It had been a week since his run in with the snake, and he'd kept his promise, and training himself into the ground.

Everywhere he went he used the surface walking exercise if at all possible. He'd even combined it with the leaf exercise, carrying nearly 100 of the things. With regards to the body-flicker technique, he'd managed to reduce the amount of leaves slightly, and his hand signs had improved, but he honestly thought he would have improved more by now. He kept his patience though.

He'd started using the tree's in the clearing as training dummies. Punches, kicks, and he even practiced throwing the kunai, which he'd kept. Might as well get his eye in now right? He wouldn't develop much musculature until he was older, would he would be as fit as humanly possible.

Before he could start his routine, Kakashi appeared before him. He had been disappointed with the man at first, but after sleeping on it, he knew the man had done everything he could to help him. Putting on a smile, he greeted the cycloptic Jonin.

"Hey Kakashi-san, what's up?"

The jonin was pleased. Naruto had bounced back from the incident rate well. He did seem slightly more withdrawn, but overall it was looking good. Reaching for the scroll he was going to give Naruto, he began speaking.

"Naruto, I have another mission with ANBU, so I'll be away for about a month" he said watching as the boy's face fell slightly. "So…I thought I'd leave you with this in the meantime" he stated happily, showing him the scroll. He'd bought several books on hunting, cooking, mathematics, history, the basics of chakra theory, chakra control, etc. His plan was for Naruto to work through all of this, before he reached the last two seals on the scroll. The transformation jutsu and a book on the basics of fuuinjutsu.

After demonstrating to the red-head how to seal and unseal objects in the scroll, he said goodbye. He'd seen the boy's face when he was told what the scroll contained. His eyes had glazed over, as if his mind was working overtime on how he could put what he learned to use.

Kakashi laughed to himself as he sped off towards the village. Without anyone teaching him the boy would be good. Armed with information, chakra that, as Pakkun had told him was nearing kage levels already, and a heavy application of hard work, the boy would be brilliant.

Kami only knew what would happen once happen once the boy learnt about elemental ninjutsu.

* * *

Rolling out the scroll, Naruto saw that each symbol was marked, the name of the item inside indicating which seal he would need to activate, and in which order. Activating the hunting seal, he grabbed the book, and dove right in. He would only last so long on what he could find in the garbage, and he knew that it wasn't exactly healthy to do so. Not like he had much choice. And he without money, he wouldn't be able to shop either, not that he would be allowed to shop anywhere, he thought bitterly. He saw that Kakashi had sealed a knife with the book, which according to said literature, was ideal for a quick kill on a smaller animal, and perfect for skinning just about anything.

He blanched at the thought of killing again, but the memory of the snake, coiled to strike, steeled hi resolve. If he wanted to survive out here, he would need to hunt. Not to mention that he would need some fresh, fulfilling food if he wanted his development to turn out alright later in life. He'd listened in when the staff at the orphanage were telling the other children to eat properly, and he could find no problems with their logic. Not that they ever helped him.

Turning a page, he read how the book would also detail what plants were safe to eat, and which were poisonous. He'd hid outside the classroom window in the orphanage when the other kids were taught how to read and write. And when he needed to practice, he'd taken materials from the classroom at night, when everyone had gone to sleep. He'd actually gotten pretty good at both before he'd been kicked out, to the level of someone almost 3 times his own age.

He'd woken up at dawn. Looking around, he was surprised to find that it was already midday. "_I know that I was really into the book but…damn. I'll have to pay more attention next time" _he thought, sealing the knife and book back into the scroll. He'd read about a quarter of the way through the book, which left him with an average knowledge of most edible plants, and some basic traps. He'd particularly enjoyed that bit.

Just looking around the clearing he was in, he could already see how the book had helped. He still had a way to go before he knew what everything around him was, but it was a start. Grabbing some fruit from a nearby tree, he sat down to eat, already revising his schedule. If he dedicated morning to reading, afternoons to endurance and chakra control training, and evenings to practicing what he learnt from the books, then he should be able to work through all the books in at least a month, two at most.

But at some point, he would need to earn some money. It was highly unlikely that anyone would give him any, and he was too young for civilian work, and too inexperienced for shinobi work. "_Maybe I should speak to Anko, she might have a few ideas"_ he mused. But until he saw her again, he would work through the books from cover to cover, and get his chakra control as perfect as possible.

"I wonder if surface walking applies to water" he thought out loud.

* * *

_One and a Half Months later_

* * *

It had taken longer than expected to work through the books. Although, much to Naruto's pride, he only had the two books on chakra, the transformation and fuuinjutsu sections left. His body flicker technique was almost perfect, but the chakra pouring into his own seemed to be interfering with his control somewhat. His throwing skills were decent at the moment, but he suspected he could do better if he had a kunai that hadn't been overused as much as his was. And more of them for that matter.

At the moment, he was stalking a large rabbit, which he hoped would soon be dinner. Months of eating half rotten, cold leftovers, and fruit from the surrounding trees had finally gotten old. He needed some _meat_. He'd finished the hunting book first, and the rabbit was even now walking into his ambush. And should that fail, a lethal trap... He'd tracked several animals, but this was the only one without a so called 'pack'. He hadn't had the heart to take them from this world.

The thought of what he was about to do to the creature quickly brought up the guilt from his previous encounter with an animal, but those feelings were quickly squashed by hunger and cold logic. If he hadn't killed that snake…

Looking at his soon to be dinner, he darted out of the shadows. He'd started using chakra to reinforce his limbs to great effect, massively increasing his speed. He grabbed the rabbit, before sliding the kunai between its ribs. It slumped lifelessly to the ground, a quick, clean kill.

Trying to ignore the tiny body he was carrying, Naruto trudged back to his clearing, and began preparing a fire. He knew what was coming next, was dreading what came next. Despite what he'd been through, he was still somewhat wary of cutting up his prey. The boy had nearly thrown up when he first glimpsed the rather graphic descriptions in the book on how to skin and carve up an animal, as well as which bits to dispose of, but still…

Laying the rabbit on a flat piece of wood he'd salvaged, he held his kunai, palms sweating, before cutting swiftly, clinically down the centre of the abdomen. A spray of blood hit him, not dissimilar to that of the snake. His hand shaking slightly, he continued, focused on his task. If he could just finish this, get past this…

Finally he was done. He buried the remains, sealed the skin into his scroll, and set the meat on the fire to cook. Only then did he collapse. It was…easier to deal with than before. And given his situation he would most likely have to do this again. He breathed deeply calming himself. This was necessary. This was nothing compared to what he would have to face as a shinobi.

Now he could eat, without having to rely on others for sustenance.

His next step to gaining control over his life.

* * *

Kakashi watched the boy from a tree some distance away, sharingan active. He couldn't have been more proud of his…his student. The only person he'd ever successfully trained, even if all he'd done was give him information. He frowned to himself for a moment. Perhaps that was why all his other teams failed. He expected them to be like the Yondaime, or even himself. To grasp any concept instantly, and to always perform at their best. "_But Naruto isn't like that"_ he thought to himself. The kid's work ethic was enough that Gai would be highly impressed.

And even at such a young age, he was largely self-sufficient. Sure his clothes could do with a little work, but given that they were the only ones the boy had, it wasn't too bad. Observing the boys chakra, he could see that it was nearing Kage level capacity, and would probably surpass that in a few months. And more astonishingly, he had chuunin level control. How many chakra control exercises was this kid doing? He knew from Pakkun which books Naruto had read so far, and while he was anxious to see what the young Uzumaki would do with seals and the transformation technique, he was surprised that Naruto had raised his control to such a level.

Leaping away towards his apartment, Kakashi of the Sharingan made a mental note to contact Anko again soon. Once the boy finished all his books, they may need to give more training methods to keep him occupied. If only so that the brilliant mind of Naruto Uzumaki wasn't unleashed on the Leaf Village. If it ever was…

Kami protect them. Because nothing else would be able to.

* * *

It was now five months after the young Uzumaki had his Chakra unlocked by Kakashi. Standing at just under a meter in height, eye's as blue as the sky on a sunny day, spiky hair as red as blood, reaching to the nape of his neck, his six whisker marks adorning his face, Naruto Uzumaki was feeling very proud. He'd finished all of Kakashi's books, and thanks to him, was able to improve more than he could have possibly imagined.

With the book, he'd managed to apply the surface walking exercise to everything available. Trees, water, walls, anything that wasn't normally traversable. He hadn't quite worked out flying yet though. He'd upgraded from leaves to bark chips, and after falling off a tree a few times due to badly distributed concentration, he could no circulate chakra through any part of his body, strengthening and hardening it.

His endurance had increased naturally, and he'd had greater success with hunting, going so far as to make more elaborate traps for larger prey. He'd even managed to make a small bag to store his things –mainly the scroll, kunai and any other bits and pieces he found- from the pelts of the animals he killed. He had to fish through several dumpsters before he found a needle and thread, and his pricked fingers were a testament to his failed efforts.

He could now recognise the people who belonged to clans in the Hidden leaf. Nara, Yamanaka, Akimichi, Inuzuka, Aburame, Kurama, Hyuuga, and Uchiha. There were of course several other minor clans, but it was this last clan, the clan of the copy eye that worried him specifically at this moment.

Probably because one of them was standing right in front of him. Wearing an ANBU mask.

Itachi Uchiha had heard through Kakashi Hatake that the Uzumaki child was training in chakra techniques. Itachi was one of the few Uchiha who didn't loathe the last Hatake for his 'stolen' eye, and so as a fellow prodigy, they became…friends of a sort. Itachi had been and ANBU captain by age 13, surpassing Kakashi. He was raised in wartime conditions but nonetheless. To hear of a child, without a clan backing him, without much of a guiding hand, who had accomplished as much as he had in so short a time…he had to see this for himself.

Following Kakashi's directions, he found himself on the edge of a clearing. He could see the boy training furiously, the drive to improve that so many lacked. Itachi was one of the few Uchiha who didn't rely completely on his sharingan, and as such could appreciate what the boy was doing. According to Kakashi, he was already close to mastering the body-flicker, and he was just starting to work on the transformation and seals.

Suddenly, the boy stopped, turning to look directly at Itachi's hiding spot. As an ANBU captain, Itachi was both impressed and annoyed that a kid could find him so easily. Flickering directly in front of the boy, he stood, waiting for the boy to blurt out his annoyance, to do anything a normal 5-year-old might do. Naruto just bowed slightly. "Hello Weasel-san" he greeted politely.

Beneath his mask, Itachi's eyebrows rose slightly. He activated his sharingan to observe the boy, just as his colleague had done many times before. He was stunned. The boy had near Kage level reserves, and Jonin level control! He might have better control than the boy, but his reserves paled in comparison.

Naruto was getting wary. So far he couldn't sense any hostile intent from the Uchiha, but being studied like an exhibit wasn't helping. He was surprised then when the ANBU bowed slightly and greeted him in return. Confused as to why ANBU operatives seemed to be so interested in him, Naruto voiced his concerns.

"Excuse me Weasel-san, but how can I help you? You have to be the second ANBU who has snuck up on me like this" he asked, stating the last part rather sheepishly. Itachi guessed that his colleague must have approached the boy in a similar manner. How childish. And predictable. Kakashi had always been the most childish of all the ANBU operatives, when not on missions that is.

"A friend of mine, Kakashi-san" he stated, registering the boy's immediate uplift in mood, "said that you are training yourself to be a shinobi. He gave you a scroll on the transformation technique?" he questioned, seeing the boy nod eagerly, before he spoke. "That's right, but I haven't started on it yet. I was working through all the other books Kakashi-san gave me. Plus I also have to start learning seals" he stated proudly.

Itachi nodded mutely. The boy was a sponge when it came to information. It was a pity that the boy wasn't allowed near the library. A good thing that the boy would soon be learning the transformation. "Naruto, once you learn the transformation, show it to Kakashi to make sure it's perfect. Then you can sneak into the library. I'm sure you'd like to continue your studies in every area" he suggested, watching as the boy's face lit up in realisation. With so much information at his disposal…it was all he could do not to start drooling at the prospect.

But then Naruto frowned. "_This guy doesn't hate me like the other Uchiha. But aside from curiosity, why is he helping me?" _the boy thought to himself. "Weasel-san…thank you for the advice…but of all the people you could help, why me?" he asked.

Itachi, in the process of leaving, paused, looking at the boy out of the corner of his eye. No begging or pleading, just curiosity with a healthy dose of wariness. "Naruto…you are one of the few people who realise the value of working hard to gain strength. Most people just take the easiest straightest path to success. And because of what you are doing…you will surpass them. All of them" Itachi stated, before vanishing.

Naruto was stunned. He knew that if Kakashi was watching him, others would be aware of his progress as well, but to have someone believe in him like this…

If he was indeed meant to surpass everyone, then he would aim his sites for the one he told him he would. The Weasel masked Uchiha. The third person in his life to actually give a damn. And he would start with the transformation jutsu.

As Itachi sped away, he pondered his own words. Did he say them to encourage the boy, who at the age of five knew something most jonin would never realise? Yes. Did he believe them? Yes, he honestly did. A descendant of one of the greatest clans in history, and with a work ethic greater than the Hidden Leafs entire gennin force combined…he would change the world, just by taking part in its cycle.

* * *

Deep in the seal, the Fox continued to examine the seal. If it had been forged by the human male that summoned the Shinigami, he might have had a better chance of escaping. As it was, the framework and basic commands were of human design, but the overall structure…it was something the sage would have been hard pressed to surpass. "_I'll have to rely on the human child to glimpse the outside…disgusting"_ it thought, truly sickened at the thought of dealing with his most hated prey.

He was still slightly impressed that the brats resolve had lasted as long as it had, the will to carry on. Observing his chakra transfer to the child, he growled slightly. As the boys reserves increased, so too did the rate at which his chakra was added to the human's. It was humiliating. He would be defeated, not by his brethren, not by a warrior, but by a boy, who didn't even know what he was doing.

It was time to speak to his jailor.

* * *

Sorry it took me a while to update, I was as sick as a dog the past few days so writing didn't really work out. Hope you enjoy this chapter, but please let me know what you think. Any advice that helps me to improve will help.

Keep well, keep reading.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

* * *

Thank you to Kunoichi of the Moonlit Night, chuck2012, crazywolf1991, drunkenbunny, royaltwinfangs, thor94, blue orb, scarease, and Galler for reviewing.

Kunoichi of the Moonlit Night: Thanks. I'm going to try and make it good a conversation as possible.

DrunkenBunny: He has that much chakra because he's an Uzumaki and a Jinchuuriki. He's just learning to control it better.

RoyalTwinFangs: Not for a while still. I will stick to the main story line but the events now are to set up the backstory for why my Naruto is different. I don't want to jump in and say oh but he's all powerful just because.

Thor94: He will be far more…logical about the whole thing. But there will be blame, if only a bit.

Blue Orb: True, but also in part because she liked the feel of his chakra. Not a bad idea though.

* * *

Hope you enjoy the next chapter.

* * *

Naruto was extremely frustrated. He'd been trying now for nearly a week, and still he couldn't get the transformation jutsu! He was sure he had the hand signs down perfectly, channelling his chakra correctly, so what was he doing wrong? He frowned. His chakra had been acting rather sluggish lately. Something was interfering with his control, most likely that unknown second pool of crimson chakra. He didn't think it was affecting him that much.

He sat down in his clearing to meditate, in order to access his chakra pool. The books he'd read had hinted at this, but the fact that he was able to do it almost instinctively both worried and excited him. To see the energy that was the basis of the ninja civilisation…it was an experience to be sure. He still stuck to his schedule, chakra control, physical training, weapons (as meagre as his supply was), and new techniques. His body-flicker was as good as it was ever going to be without more advanced chakra control exercises, but he really needed to speak to Kakashi about the hand signs, and whether or not they were all entirely necessary. Although maybe Anko or Itachi could also help.

"_Enough about that for now…just breathe…and focus…"_ he thought, clearing all other thoughts from his mind, and focusing solely on channelling his chakra. Immediately the warm feeling that accompanied it washed over him, but there was something…off. Like there was another presence hiding behind it. Full of…rage. Hatred.

He shivered at the feeling. The emotions that were carried over from…whatever it was were scary enough, but what really frightened him was that he had absolutely no idea where they were coming from. Inside him yes, but what about him was so _angry_. _"Maybe…maybe that's why everyone hates me…the source of this hatred"_ he thought, as he slipped in his dream state.

If only he knew how right he was.

* * *

Kakashi had arrived back from yet another mission. Some minor noblemen had been causing problems for the Leaf, so his squad had been sent in to 'mop up'. It was certainly easier than most ANBU missions. He'd already reported in to headquarters to deliver his mission report, so now he was on his way home to enjoy some sleep, and maybe another chapter of his precious book.

Reaching his apartment, he was surprised to find the prodigy of the Uchiha clan, Itachi, waiting by his door. They had a cordial relationship, but they were hardly drinking buddies. _"I don't think he even drinks at all"_ Kakashi thought. Even he had eventually found a few people to socialise with outside ANBU.

"Itachi, how can I help you?" Kakashi asked. He already knew the answer though.

Itachi kept his gaze on the older Captain. He'd suspected Kakashi had told him about the Uzumaki boy in order to get his opinion. He sighed. "Kakashi. I talked to the boy". Now that got more of a reaction. By the look on Kakashi's face, all he'd expected Itachi to do was observe. The Uchiha almost allowed himself a smirk. Almost. He had a reputation to uphold after all.

Kakashi's sole visible eyebrow rose momentarily, before it turned into one of his infamous eye-smiles. "Impressive isn't he" he stated. There was no need to question that. The boy was almost six and already he had learnt a technique without much instruction. Itachi nodded. "Indeed. If only my clansmen worked as hard as he did. I can already see my father beginning to sway Sasuke towards the standard Uchiha teachings" he said, with no small amount of distaste. Kakashi sighed knowingly.

The Uchiha clan, the sole exceptions being Itachi, Shisui, Mikoto, and maybe a handful of others relied almost completely on their Sharingan. Apparently they'd miss-interpreted Madara's strength as stemming from his eyes. While the clan may have cast out the second candidate for Shodaime Hokage, they had revered the man for his strength. Kakashi knew how Itachi wanted his three year old brother to grow up without this reliance, but with his ANBU duties he wasn't at home enough to have a lasting effect on the boy.

Inviting Itachi into his apartment, Kakashi set down his equipment. It was sparsely furnished, but it was comfortable enough for the small amount of time he spent in it. They talked about recent missions for a while, but there was one question weighing on Itachi's mind. Holding up his hand to interrupt his colleague, Itachi spoke.

"When are you going to tell him?"

Kakashi sighed. He knew what Itachi was referring to. The nine-tails. With Naruto's new skills, and his thirst for knowledge, it was only a matter of time before he figured out why the villagers hated him. And once he learnt the transformation jutsu, it would only be a matter of time before he figured out why there was such a large divide between him and the rest of the village.

"Soon…I'll have to".

He really would. And better from him than a villager that got tired of waiting for the 'monster' to die.

* * *

Upon opening his eyes, Naruto was relieved to find himself in the chakra pool chamber. Looking at his own, he could immediately see that it had gotten considerably larger. Upon closer inspection though, he frowned. The control exercises he'd been doing would have increases his reserves but not _this_ much. And rather than being calmer, the blue pool actually seemed more disturbed. Looking at the pipe that the other chakra was being filtered through, he saw that the output was at least double, and was flowing many times faster than before.

Something was seriously wrong.

Making the journey to the other pool, he wondered what the other chakra could possibly be. And if it really was linked to the hatred he received from the villagers. He sighed. Hopefully this time he could get some answers, without being interrupted.

As he approached the foreign chakra pool, he felt a sense of anticipation. Whatever the outcome, he would have some answers. Something that might explain one of the many mysteries in his life. Looking over the rim of the pool, he gulped, but steeled his resolve. The hatred from before was ever present, almost suffocating him with its magnitude. But at the same time…it was as it was reaching out, with a mind of its own.

Tentatively, Naruto reached out a hand to the surface of the raging liquid. Before, he'd refrained from coming here, not wanting to experience those terrible emotions again. But now he needed to. Sinking his hand below the surface, he winced. The rage, the bloodlust…it was indescribable. Like being caught up in a tsunami, just riding the flow. And yet, he sensed, if he was fully submerged in the chakra…he shuddered. It would be as if he _was _the tsunami. An unstoppable force.

Shaking himself, he tore himself away from the raw power of the chakra. He couldn't afford to lose himself like that, not now. Besides if he did...who knows what he would end up doing. Who he might hurt.

Without warning, a tendril of chakra burst from the surface, latching onto him. He panicked, struggling to free himself. "No, no, no, no! Stop it!" he screamed at it, desperately hoping that it would leave him alone. It was too strong for him. And he was dragged forward, inching towards the lip of the pool.

And he was pulled below.

Briefly, he felt the hatred, before it vanished. Opening his eyes, he was shocked to find himself in what appeared to be a sewer, lying in the ankle-deep still water. Standing up he looked at the tunnel he'd appeared in. The water was dirty, and the concrete walls had cracks all over them, but more unusual than that were the pipes overhead. Hundreds of pipes, all different sizes, wound their way across the tunnel ceiling, disappearing into the distance. Blue and red pipes.

Now that he looked at them, the red pipes were far larger than what he assumed were his blue ones, and far more numerous. But in one or two places, with some smaller pipes, he could see the two colours merging. _"This must be another representation of my chakra"_ Naruto realised. But then where were the red pipes coming from.

Behind him, he could see the blue pipes disappearing into the wall. So he headed in the other direction. He walked for what felt like hours, sometimes passing valves and small openings on the walls. The only sound being the water as he moved his feet through it. _"This had better go somewhere, I've been in here for ages!"_ he mentally screamed. His frustration was starting to get the best of him. Breathing deeply to calm himself down, he felt the air getting more oppressive, weighing down on him.

What the hell could be doing that?

In the distance, he sighed with some small relief when saw what appeared to be an end to the corridor, But every step made that oppressive aura bear down on him more fiercely. Standing a few meters away from the exit, he paused. _"What if…what if I don't want to know? What if…no. Whatever might happen, I have to do this". _Hiding his apprehension, and no small amount of fear, he walked the last few steps into the open, prepared for anything.

Not this. Never for this.

* * *

The room wasn't much different to the corridor, except for the size. The pipes on the ceiling disappeared into the walls, hidden from view. Same water, same walls.

And the colossal cage door directly in front of him.

Reaching all the way across the room, from floor to ceiling, Naruto stared at the thing. What would require that large a cage to keep it imprisoned? _"And why the hell is the only thing keeping it closed a piece of paper, with…oh. A seal" _he realised, looking at the kanji on the slip pasted on the centre of the doors.

"_Wait. Seal…chakra…what or…who, did they seal into me?"_ he wondered, terrified at the prospect. If they, whoever 'they' were had sealed foreign chakra into him…it had to have been sometime around when he was born! That was the only time of his life that he couldn't remember what had happened. But –and he gulped at this- what had more chakra than him, than an elite jonin, and by estimation, more than a kage? And a ninja's chakra was blue, so what….

Flashes of whispered conversations flickered through his head. _Demon. Monster. Murderer. _

_Fox._

"_Oh kami…please don't tell me…it can't be…" _he realised with a sense of horror. The reason why everyone hated him.

And then, the aura he'd felt increasing all the way up the corridor exploded. He fell to his knees, choking on the hatred. Glancing up, his worst fears were given form. His circumstances given reason. His pain given a cause.

The Nine-Tailed Fox. The mightiest Bjuu. Sealed into him.

And it was now standing right in front of him.

* * *

The massive chakra beast gazed down at the boy, his muzzle pulling back in a vicious snarl. It had taken the human a _whole fucking week _to find his way here! He'd waited in anticipation as the child had made his way through his mindscape, the fear increasing with every step. And now it was on its knees in front of him, too terrified to even speak.

How pathetic. All his other enemies had at least had the gall to proclaim their superiority over him. He'd destroyed them regardless, but he'd expected his jailor to at least have a spine. The boy was an Uzumaki after all. He growled lowly at the thought of his last two containers. Being sealed into them was nothing less than torture, lasting for years on end.

But for the moment, he needed to speak to his host.

* * *

Naruto stared up at the colossal beast for what felt like ages, his fear freezing him in place. _"This…this is why I suffer…" _he thought, gasping for breath in his panic at facing the Bjuu. For the moment, it was just standing there, gazing at him. Its fur was a deep, glorious crimson-orange, like a sunset dipped in the blood of everyone who was crushed by one of its paws. The claws sunk into the ground near the gate, an ivory white that seemed to almost glow in the darkness. And the eyes…

Blood red. Cold black slits. Burning with a hatred so great it could swallow someone whole. If Naruto ever had to access the power of the nine-tails…

The bloodlust would be unimaginable.

"K-Kyuubi…"

The Fox narrowed its eyes at the boy. Finally a response. Well then, he'd just have to carry the conversation.

"Filthy human…finally see you" it growled out, baring its teeth in a show of intimidation. His eyebrow rose slightly when the boy, still shaking like a leaf, stood up. Maybe there was hope for him yet.

Naruto could barely meet the gaze of creature. The sensory abilities he'd been blessed with were a curse now. The pure _hatred_ he could feel radiating from the construct before him was overwhelming. Like a storm without an end. It seemed to be a general part of creature, but even amidst the maelstrom he could feel that no small part of it was focused on him.

"Why…why do you hate me…?" Naruto stammered out. He needed to know. Was he to be hated by everyone for no good reason? Would Kakashi and Anko turn out the same way?

For a brief moment, he almost thought he saw a look of shock pass over the terrifying visage of the fox, before it settled into one of distain. "You brat…you contain me, keep me from freedom, while you stay free and happy, and you ask WHY I HATE YOU! You fucking humans think that you can just do anything, without regards for others. And you, you are the prince of your village for holding me back, why I suppose they even fucking worship you, like-"

"ENOUGH!"

The fox stopped. This was new. He'd had people scream at him in defiance, in terror, in despair. But not like this. The boy was gasping for breath. The fox sneered at him. What possible reason could he have for this outburst? The humans would be treating him like a prince, so why?

Naruto breathed deeply, trying to control his emotions. How _dare _the fox just assume that? After his treatment!

"You…you are the reason I have to sleep under a tree every night…why I had to eat out of the garbage…why I nearly died when two ninja tried to attack me…when the villagers tried to beat me…why…w-why I don't have parents" Naruto said, growing both sadder and incredibly angry with every word.

"You" he said, looking up at the fox, rage and hatred now appearing in his eyes. The same emotions that he sensed in the fox. "You are the reason they HATE ME!" he screamed, tears bursting from his eyes as he collapsed to the ground.

For the first time in centuries, the fox was confused. His previous hosts had been praised for their burden, the strength they used to keep him at bay. So why was this boy so hated?

The attack.

The fox hmphed, drawing the attention of the snivelling boy. "You humans…so easy to kill. To think how many flesh bags I killed that night, five years ago" he stated grinning maliciously at the boy. As much as he detested the boy, this was the only conversation he'd had in five years, and he was going to make the most of it.

Slowly, Naruto's tears dried up. "_So they hate me for all the people that died. But I didn't…I didn't…"_

"But I didn't kill them, you did!" he croaked out. He couldn't find it in himself to scream anymore.

The fox glared at him yet again, but he met its gaze. "You disgusting creatures, you can't even see past the obvious. They hate you because they think you _are_ me, because they can't fucking think for themselves, blinded by their loss. And they hate me…they hate me because they can't control me" the giant fox stated angrily. He knew their hate, he revelled in it. But he couldn't stand this. They village thought that the boy was _him_?

Stupidity and ignorance were as rampant as ever then.

Naruto sniffed. He didn't choose this. Never this. He was the prison of the most powerful being in the elemental nations. As such, people saw fit to make his life living hell. He chuckled sadly. As shocking as the information was, there wasn't exactly much he could do about it. He looked up at the ceiling, cracked and dripping water.

"How can I change this place?"

The fox was shocked out of thoughts at the sudden question. Turning to the boy, he asked "What do you mean, human". He put in a growl for good measure. He still hated the boy, and all humans, but after knowing how the boy was treated…he imagined that was what his eyes looked like. Nowhere near the same intensity, he had thousands of years more experience over the boy, but still. He hated the child a _little_ less now.

Naruto sighed and gestured round at the room. It was a mess by anyone's standards, and at the moment, he was too emotionally exhausted to deal with any resentment towards the fox. And since his situation was unlikely to change anytime in the near future, he might as well try and act civil.

"The room…how can I fix it?"

The fox was surprised. He'd honestly thought he'd seen everything the world had to offer, to him at least, and then this kid comes along. This had been one fucked up conversation. His eyes narrowed. What was the kid thinking? Was he going to turn the place into another torture chamber? No, he was too young for that. _"Do your worst, boy" _the fox thought. If it was, so what. He had survived far worse. "It's your mind, do what you want" he said dismissively, settling down to watch the boy. Whatever happened, this would be interesting.

Naruto stood stock still, closed his eyes, and concentrated. If this was his mind, he should be able to change what it looked like, right? Focusing on the walls, he imagined them repairing themselves, turning into a smooth surface. He frowned when he thought about the pipes. Given the colours of the pipes, he assumed that the water level was directly related to the control he had over his chakra. He'd have to work on that. Next, he focused on light. He thought about hanging lamps all around the room. As it was he could barely see the gate, never mind the walls. And finally, he focused on the gate. The seal. His forehead furrowed as he concentrated. He imagined the stark metal bars turning into a massive wooden barricade, with gaps every few meters.

Gasping, he opened his eyes. He hadn't imagined that trying this would be so taxing. He was already tired, and then he went and did this.

The fox looked round. He honestly didn't know what to think. For a torture chamber, it was looking very…cosy. The walls had been fixed, and that infernal dripping had stopped. Whats-more, the cold metal bars had been replaced with a softer, sturdy wood. The ominous lighting had even been replaced by several warm lamps.

"Why?"

Naruto looked up at the question. "We're stuck like this. I didn't ask for this, and I'm guessing that you didn't either. So I'm hoping that this will help even things out a bit. No use fighting each other right?" he said matter-of-factly. He sighed. _"No matter how much I hate you right now"_. He daren't voice that thought though.

The fox scowled. The boy was trying to suppress his hate. Not hide. Suppress. _"What an unusual human"_ the beast thought. As long as this offer was available though…he wouldn't turn it down. Rather begrudgingly, he hn'nd his agreement with the boy, before flexing his chakra. He'd had enough.

Time to think this over. And he had a lot to think about.

* * *

"..id. Kid! Wake up!"

Naruto opened his eyes to the frowning face of one Anko Mitarashi. He was still in his clearing, but looking at the sky, he seemed to have been in his mind for several hours.

Looking back at Anko's face, he could feel some concern. That was new. No-one had done that before, except maybe Kakashi. He narrowed his eyes at her. Did she know? Was this an act?

Hey Anko-san. Long-time no see" he said carefully, unable to keep all of the suspicion out of his voice.

Anko frowned. She'd come to find the kid, only to see him lying down in the clearing. She'd been trying to wake him up for an hour now. And the way he spoke. It was as if he no longer trusted her. Even now he was watching her out of the corner of his eye, as if trying to figure out if she was a threat. She sighed. "Okay kid, what's up?"

Naruto looked away. If she didn't know, she might attack him. But she was old enough that she could. So why hadn't she told him.

"Anko-san…I need to ask you something. And I need you to answer me truthfully. Please" he whispered out, almost scared of the result.

"Sure brat, what is it?" she said, frowning. What on earth could he so antsy about?

"Did you know?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Know about what?"

He looked her dead in the eyes. The amount of fear she could see there was worrying, but at the same time she was shocked at his determination.

"Did you know about Kyuubi?"

* * *

Sorry it took me so long to update. Many things happened recently, and it took me two days to write this chapter. I'm still a bit uncertain about how I wrote Kyuubi, so any advice you guys can give me would be much appreciated.

Keep well, keep writing, and please review.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

* * *

Thanks to Kunoichi of the Moonlit Night, RoyalTwinFangs, Scarease, Galler, thor94, zolydck, Krish11762, Umbra . Venator, ZrPx, 25522f, and aliendoodledog for reviewing chapter 7 of Journey of a Jinchuuriki.

Galler: He definitely won't be friends with him straight away. And until Naruto learns his name, he will call him fox, or kyuubi, etc. If only because he doesn't know what else to call him. The emotion sensing ability is part of a sensor ability, fully trained he would possibly be able to sense other people in the distance, and have a very specific idea of what people are feeling up close.

Thor94: That's the plan. And yes, he will start drawing some conclusions.

Krish11762: It's more a case of him trying to calm down, and actually think before he does something he regrets. Might be a little too mature, but given what he's been through, I felt that was reasonable. And there will be screaming at some stage.

ZrPx: He will learn it earlier than he did in cannon, but he won't spam the clones so badly like he did in the fight against Mizuki. For 100 clones he'd need about Kisame level chakra. I don't want to make him god-like, as awesome as that would be, because it would make the story boring if I mess it up even slightly.

25522f: Not a bad idea, and agreed will come back to the pairings at a later date though.

* * *

Enjoy the chapter.

* * *

Anko froze up when she heard his question. How in the blazing hell did he find out! Everyone in the village above the age of 17 had been told about the sealing a few days after the attack, but she'd been at the meeting anyway. She knew of the law that was _supposed _to protect the brat, so who was _stupid _enough to risk death just to ruin the kid's life further?

She glanced at Naruto. Despite her nonchalant attitude, she could see that boy knew that she was aware of his problem, and her heart really went out to him. He was _five years old _for kami's sake, and now he had to deal with this! She looked down at the ground, choosing her words carefully.

"Yeah…I knew…"

Naruto looked up at her. He'd known the moment he'd asked the question that she'd known, but he really hadn't been expecting a truthful answer. And even more puzzlingly, he could sense…not guilt, per say, but something extremely close. "So…" he said, his mouth dry. "…that's why everyone hates my guts…because they think I'm a demon?" he asked, looking at Anko for confirmation. She looked at him again, for sighing and nodding. Now he recognised her emotion, the one that felt similar to guilt.

It was pity.

He frowned. He didn't need this. But then another thought crossed his mind. How did everyone know? The ninja would, sure, they'd taken part in the defence of the village, but the civilians? He asked Anko as much.

"The hokage…announced it to the village, a few days after the attack. Apparently the Sandaime revealed your status in the hope that you would be seen as a hero, but I guess that didn't work. Then he put a law in place stating that anyone who spoke about it would be executed. Didn't really stop them from fucking your life up huh brat" Anko explained. Even now she wondered what the Hokage had been thinking when he made the announcement.

Naruto stared at her in disbelief. What. The. _Fuck_! All his suffering, all the hatred directed solely at him, could have been avoided. And because of one old man…He gritted his teeth, tears threatening to spill from his eyes. How could he. How could the professor, who according to his books was one of the wisest leaders in the Leaf village, be so…_stupid_. Of all the people in the village, he should know best what people did to things they hated, and more to the point, that people who were grieving, were not thinking straight.

He was broken from his depression by a hand on his shoulder. Looking up,, he saw Anko looking closely at him, concern visible in her chocolate eyes. He sniffed back his remaining tears. "Why are you still here…why don't you hate me?" he said in a small voice.

She looked into his eyes and placed both hands on his shoulders. "Because, Naruto…" she said, seeing his face lift up to look at hers when she spoke. "…you aren't a demon…you are just a kid who's life got fucked over. Just like me" she said, a wry smile plastered over her face. She would be damned if she was going to too sappy. She knew she wasn't well liked in the village, but she could at least relate to the kid.

Naruto couldn't believe it. Someone similar to him. "But…how? Why?" he asked, desperate to know why.

"I'll tell you…someday" she said, smirking. It was worth it, just to shake the brat out of his funk for a while. He was still going to take a while to get over this but hey…she'd done it. Why shouldn't he be able to?

* * *

Kakashi was walking through the streets, reading his usual novel. His mind however, was following a completely different path. Itachi had a point, about how Naruto should be told sooner rather than later, but still…it wasn't something you could just blurt out. _"Hey Naruto, guess what? You're the container of the beast that attacked the Hidden leaf five years ago. Right. Like that would go down well"_ Kakashi thought to himself.

He frowned as he thought about the Sandaime. For the life of him, he couldn't understand what was going on. The 'Professor' was barely doing his job, and when it came to Naruto, it was if he found it easier to turn a blind eye than actually help the kid. Even if he didn't care for the boy, he was a jinchuuriki, a weapon, whether he wanted to be or not. How was he supposed to defend himself now or in the future, if he didn't have help. Not to mention what his situation was doing to his loyalty to the village.

And of course, Kakashi had a far more personal reason to care. No-one other than the Hokage, a select few ANBU, the council elders, and himself knew about Naruto's heritage, and if it weren't for Kakashi's position in ANBU, he would be helping Naruto every day. But after the attack, the village was weak. The loss of any significant portion of their ninja forces could result in less business, or at worst, war. And as much as he wanted to be there for the little Uzumaki, he couldn't let that happen.

Looking up from his book for a moment, he saw a very unusual sight. Anko Mitarashi, looking _worried_, striding straight for him. Closing his book, he frowned. Despite the treatment she received, Anko generally kept her emotions in check, so what could possibly worry her enough that she was outwardly showing it?

Probably wasn't Naruto. Nah, it definitely wasn't Naruto…

* * *

The afternoon found the red-head sitting under one of the tree's in his clearing, reading a book. Or at least, attempting to. Naruto sighed as he put down the Fuuinjutsu book Kakashi had given him. The whole concept fascinated him. Using specially crafted formula's to create different effects, explosions, barriers, and even store objects in pocket dimensions was something that would normally have had him foaming at the mouth in excitement.

But he was still thinking about the fox. Anko had talked with him for a bit longer, making sure he was ok before leaving, but he couldn't get the conversation with the massive chakra beast out of his mind. That feeling of pure _rage_…of _hatred_. It was almost impossible to describe. From his history book, he knew that the tailed beasts were feared, but he hadn't considered what effect it would have on the creatures themselves.

And when he considered the fact that it was responsible for his situation…no, that wasn't quite right. He knew from Anko, and from other bits and pieces of information he'd heard that it was the late fourth Hokage that had sealed the fox into him. The fox may be the root of the villager's hatred, but it was the Yondaime that brought it down upon him, by making him a jinchuuriki. A human sacrifice. By taking away any chance of a normal life he would ever had, and turning him into a container. A prison.

In all honesty, he wanted to hate the Kyuubi. He wanted to lash out, to take revenge. But it wasn't the Kyuubi that screwed up his life, or stabbed him with a kunai. People did that. And as much as he disliked it, he understood why.

Grief.

As an orphan, he could only imagine what having a family would feel like. And in the attack, so many people lost theirs. He would never forgive them for what they were doing to him, but he understood. But with every answer he got, more questions appeared.

The hatred directed at him? The Kyuubi.

But why did it attack?

And why did the Yondaime choose him? Of all the children that could have been chosen, why had it been him? He sincerely hoped it wasn't just bad luck, because he had enough of that already. Sighing, he put down the book. Maybe some exercise would help him. And he needed to increase his chakra control anyway.

Sitting down on the edge of his chakra pool, legs dangling in the liquid energy, he thought about everything he'd learnt so far, if only to distract himself from the presence of the fox. He was still sorting out how he felt, he couldn't exactly go and have another conversation just yet.

With his ever increasing chakra levels, control exercises were more important than ever. He'd even taken to sitting on the underside of tree branches when reading up on fuuinjutsu. He still had to try walking on water, but until then he ran up and down trees, with a hundred or so leaves stuck to various spots on his body. Looking down at the pool, it was no longer bubbly. It swirled around, there was even a wave every once in a while. But it was the best his control had been since he'd started training.

His kunai throwing wasn't too bad, he thought, but it would help if he had better equipment, and more of them. The blade was getting extremely dull. His body flicker only had a few leaves in it now, much to his delight, and no smoke. His hand sign speed wasn't too bad, but he still wondered if it was possible to use fewer, or one-handed seals. Theoretically, if he could replicate the chakra flow that the hand signs moulded by himself, he wouldn't have to use hand signs.

His physical training was going well. He could run further, longer, and faster than anyone his age, and probably most gennin. Maybe some chuunin. He wasn't exactly about to test this. His skill at hunting was improving a lot as well. He'd learnt quickly which animals would be easiest to hunt, but also which would provide the most use. As it was, he had a month's supply of meat sealed into his scroll, as well as several intact skins.

One thing he had come across while running, was the seal. It had been an especially hot day, and he'd taken his shirt off to train. He was especially proud, that even at such a young age, he was already gaining some muscle definition. And thanks to his new diet, he wasn't so thin anymore. But when he'd channelled chakra to his legs, he'd seen it appear on his stomach. A spiral, with eight other markings situated around it.

Fuuinjutsu. The art of sealing. According to his book, the uses for fuuinjutsu were many and varied. He was particularly interested in the bit where it said he would eventually be able to seal jutsu. Imagine the traps he could make if he could seal a fireball into a seemingly nondescript paper tag. That might be a bit too flashy for his purposes, bit it was an intriguing idea none the less.

He sighed to himself, as he pulled his legs out of the water. If he wanted to practice fuuinjutsu, he would need to get paper and ink. He had no money, so he would have to steal any materials he wanted to use. And he couldn't be seen, not as himself at least, so he had to learn the transformation technique. _"I wonder what other information the library has"_ he thought to himself, thinking about Itachi's advice.

Information had allowed him to progress further than he ever would have before. So why not go out, and find more information?

* * *

Kakashi finally got back to his apartment. What a fucked up day. Just when he began making plans to tell Naruto about the nine tails, he found out for himself. Why now? It could have happened any time in the future, when the kid was older, but no, it was now. And with a serious mission to prepare for, he didn't even have time to go and check on the boy. Anko had told him that he seemed fine, but still.

Thank kami it was Anko and not a villager that found him first. The damage they could have done to the kid…

As he was packing, he resolved to find Naruto the moment he got back. Maybe give him another scroll. After all, with the amount of chakra the boy had, if he didn't learn to control it now, he would be severely hampered when he became a ninja. Still, Itachi would check up on him, as would Anko. That would have to do for now.

He chuckled when he thought of Itachi. His little brother Sasuke had been born three years ago, and now that he knew how to walk, he was already trying to follow the young ANBU Captain anywhere. So long as that kid didn't fall to the usual Uchiha arrogance, he could become quite an exceptional ninja.

But for now he had a mission. And the sooner he finished that, the sooner he could talk to Naruto.

* * *

For what was possibly the first time in its long life since it was created, the Nine Tailed fox was confused. After days of waiting, its host had finally found his way into the seal, only to blow up at him. He'd sensed fear, and some hatred from the boy, but _empathy_? Even if it was only the third time he'd been sealed, he certainly wasn't expecting that from a human, his host no less.

He could see the logic behind the kid's decision though. He was stuck in here for the foreseeable future, so a bit of co-operation with someone who didn't seem to hate him that much was maybe not such a bad idea. He hadn't told the kid about the seal yet. Specifically how, if the boy died, or he was close to escaping it would kill him, by funnelling his chakra through the seal filter and into the boy.

He grinned at the thought. The pain it would cause the human would be delicious, even if it killed him. But for now, he would hold off antagonising the child. The new cage was a vast improvement on the old one, even though few changes had been made.

And he could always bargain for more. Who knew when the human might need his chakra. He settled down on his paws, grinning ominously, ivory teeth gleaming in the light of the cage.

He could wait. This was becoming very interesting after all.

* * *

A week later, Naruto sat on the roof of a building across from the library. He'd finally succeeded in performing the transformation, and had managed to successfully copy several gennin's appearances by sneaking onto various training grounds. Surprisingly, most gennin only trained during their team sessions. How was that enough to make them stronger?

Moving through the hand signs, he focused on the image of the person he was transforming into. He channelled chakra into the technique, far more than was required. When he'd first started out practicing the technique, he'd found a threshold of sorts. Pushing past it, his transformations would become solid, and in any shape or size he chose. The normal Transformation was restricted in these aspects, as anything not similar in size and shape would cause the technique to dispel if touched. Get stabbed by a kunai or any other sharp object and it would dispel anyway.

In a small puff of smoke, he was done. In his place, stood a nondescript, dark haired gennin, in sensible shinobi clothes, forehead protector strapped proudly to his head. And with his levels of control, the technique would last for several hours.

He flickered down to the street. It was still early morning, so there were only a few people about. Walking forward, he frowned at the fact that the few people about were not treating him like a disease, and like an actual human being. Not that they could see through the transformation. Walking through the door, he saw the lady on duty look up from the magazine she was reading, smile at him, before going right back to her literature. Apparently shinobi had free access. Huh. That would be useful.

Heading towards the history section, he thought about what he was looking for. More information on chakra and ninja techniques certainly. If what he'd heard from the older kids at the orphanage was correct, then there were three techniques required to pass the ninja academy. It would definitely save him time if he could get them down now. Also, more advanced materials on fuuinjutsu, and most importantly, the tailed beasts.

He still hadn't spoken to the fox again. He didn't know anyone who'd died, obviously, and after how he'd been treated, he was at least willing to give the fox a chance. That being said, the massive being was obviously extremely prideful. Giving the fox something in return for information was probably the only way they would get along in their situation.

Grabbing some books off the shelf, he moved off to the next section of the library. There didn't seem to be any high level techniques available, but he was very happy to see a full shelf on fuuinjutsu. Although judging by the layer of dust, it seemed no-one had been near the texts in years. _"Well, if no one is going to use them…might as well free up some space" _ he thought to himself. He could use the books, and village wouldn't otherwise allow him to read them. Quickly sealing them into his scroll, which he'd had the foresight to bring with him, he carefully rearranged books from the shelves below to fill up the shelf. If anyone actually walked past the dusty corner of the library, the wouldn't be any the wiser to what he'd done.

Finding a table near an emergency exit, just in case he needed to run away from an angry horde of bookworms, he started reading. He had books on the hokages, to the other nations, to chakra theory, and several other subjects. Even a book on anatomy and medicine. That would help if he ever needed to heal himself.

He quickly set to work. The more he knew, the better he could train. And possibly negotiate with his prisoner. A warden without a key. How absurd.

* * *

For one of the few times in his life, Itachi Uchiha was surprised. He'd just watched a five year old perform the body flicker and transformation techniques in quick succession, and who had proceeded to walk into the library like he owned it. Not even he had thought of this, but then again, he'd had access to his clan's archives.

With how easily the boy gained access to the building, Itachi had to wonder if any other buildings were in danger of being infiltrated. Certainly not by any pre-gennin, none of them had kage level chakra reserves. But if any other important facilities were run similarly, then there was a serious loophole in leaf security.

Shaking his head, he leapt off, heading to ANBU headquarters. He still had work to do, but he would definitely look forward to seeing what the young Uzumaki would be capable of in the coming years. If he carried on training like this, he would be a chuunin in no time, and the rank of jonin wouldn't be far behind.

"_Show me Naruto…Show me what you can do"_

* * *

Finally, another chapter done. I got a bit distracted on this one, apologies for publishing it so late. Just to clarify, I made the rookie nine (excluding Naruto of course) two years younger than Naruto. Will probably have another conversation with Kyuubi in the next chapter, as well as some friendship development between Naruto, and some of the people he's already met. Possibly a short time skip. I really want to get into the whole fuuinjutsu side of things.

Hope you enjoyed it. Keep well, and please review.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

* * *

Thank you to RoyalTwinFangs, .kitten, zolydck, thor94, 06, amaromarn, scarease, Kunoichi of the Moonlit night, and Galler for reviewing.

Zolydck: It isn't so much naivety as blame. And you got that pretty much spot on.

I'm baaaack. Hope you enjoy it.

* * *

A year passed, and the young red-head was now standing on a roof across from a store that had refused him entrance. To him, it felt like years since he'd first taken those books from the library. And he hadn't regretted it. He'd instantly fallen in love with the art. Granted, finding supplies was an annoyance he'd rather not have to deal with, but he made do. He'd blown up the first few storage seals he'd made, leaving him with less hair and more wisdom, but he learnt from his mistakes.

He'd even managed to make his own scroll, in which Kakashi's now resided. He'd used the same basic structure, just an extra matrix here, a few function generators there, and some variable switch lines to neaten things up. He was still improving on it, but he was proud none the less. It would keep his things clean, his food fresh, and his materials dry. Next up was explosive seals, and possibly barrier seals, but at the moment, he had more pressing concerns.

As self-sufficient as he'd become, there were still things he couldn't yet take from the forest. Food and shelter certainly, but clothing had fast become an issue. And hygiene. His Hair had grown to his shoulder blades, and the dirt on his skin had reached places it shouldn't, when he finally decided to go 'acquire' hygiene products from stores in the village. He still had no money, so this left him with two options. One: steal the money, transform, and then buy what he needed, or Two: steal the items from the shop.

Most shops were too busy, or too secure for him to even consider taking from, but he'd gotten fairly good at pickpocketing. As it was, he had several hundred Ryo stored safely away, and anytime he needed more, he'd take a walk through the market district. Amazing how many people kept such large denominations of money in their pockets.

He was distracted from his surveillance by a now familiar Weasel mask staring at him across the roof. Letting the store go (for now) he waved the Uchiha over.

"Hey Itachi-san, how are things" he said with a large smile. They weren't quite friends, but Itachi was always willing to answer his questions and give him advice. In return, the Uchiha talked to him about…anything really. Missions-with the sensitive details edited out for security-he'd taken part in, ANBU assignments, his home life, and his little brother. With how serious it all seemed, and how much Itachi opened up, Naruto sometimes wondered if, instead of a ninja, he could be a psychologist. Not in this village obviously, nor to anyone who knew what he was.

"Hello, Naruto" came the stoic response. Even to him the ANBU captain smiled very little, but the small pull at the edges of his mouth told Naruto that he was happy to see him. He had no doubt that Itachi knew what he was about to do, he had a scroll with a 'distraction' that Anko would approve of in his hand. And Kami knows how many times Itachi had seen him at work. But so long as Itachi let him be, he wouldn't ask why.

Naruto just grinned back at him. "How's your new baby brother?" he asked. He knew quite a bit about the new 'greatest' Uchiha, both from Itachi and village gossip. Although he suspected the villagers were exaggerating somewhat. After all, what 4-year-old could breathe fire, and kill his 'enemies' by looking at them? Itachi however looked…conflicted. He sighed, before answering.

"Sasuke is…good, I suppose. He hasn't been too much trouble lately. He still tries to spend every waking moment either with me, or trying to get training from either myself, or father" he said with a small smile. It quickly faded. "He's still hoping for father to acknowledge him…there's a lot of pressure on both of us, as the clan head's children". Naruto nodded grimly. However skilled, however powerful Itachi might be, his clan always expected more. More loyalty, more power, whatever. _"Comes from possessing the Sharingan I guess" _Naruto thought to himself.

"So, Naruto" the red-head looked up at this, drawn out of his thoughts. Itachi wasn't one to dwell on stuff like this. "How is your body-flicker coming on?" Naruto grimaced at this. Try as he might, he still couldn't get the technique down perfectly. His control was as good as could be expected, with a constant injection of chakra into his system, and he'd even managed to decrease the number of hand signs by half. It had taken him months to even get that far, and yet it continued to frustrate him. If only he could replicate the effects without any hand signs.

"No progress since last month. I've done all the control exercises I know, even combined them, but it isn't helping" he told Itachi. The ANBU captain thought about this. Hand signs would take practice to eliminate, so the problem was control. Perhaps some of the ANBU exercises would benefit him.

"Why don't you try Kunai balancing and chakra threads Naruto?" Naruto tilted his head at this. He imagined that the kunai balancing was similar to leaf balancing, with the added incentive of a sharp, pointy object cutting you if you failed. The metal would definitely make things more challenging. But chakra strings?

Seeing Naruto's curious expression, Itachi began to explain. "Chakra strings are exactly that, focused, condensed chakra that can be used to grab objects. It is mainly used by puppeteers in the Hidden Sand, but some ANBU use it as a control exercise" he stated matter-of-factly. He thoroughly enjoyed the way the boy's eyes lit up. He could only imagine what uses Naruto was currently dreaming up for the manipulation exercise.

For a moment, Naruto's brain had shut down. Strings…chakra…move…control. At this point it finally rebooted. IF he could get this down, it would make everything so much easier! He could manipulate traps, possibly create seals by moving the brushes around, even pickpocket people from a distance. He had to focus to stop the goofy, drooling grin on his face. This was AWESOME!

"Thanks Itachi, I uh…I gotta go practice!" he said happily, jumping away to the forests, the store forgotten. Itachi almost laughed. Almost. He had a reputation to uphold.

* * *

Later that day, Naruto sat reading a book on the Hidden Sand's actions during the third shinobi war. Their use of puppets was ingenious, not to mention the seals that must have gone into their construction. Where else would they store the thousands of poisoned senbon or kunai that tore through enemy ranks. Setting it down for the moment, he wondered about the chakra strings. He hadn't asked Itachi for an explanation, but as he saw it, it was merely forming the chakra outside his body, before shaping it in such a way that it would be both flexible, and strong enough to move another object around.

So far, he knew the transformation, body-flicker, chakra control exercises of varying difficulties and combinations, and a small amount of fuuinjutsu. But about six months ago, he'd noticed an anomaly with his transformation technique. As things stood, the standard technique was meant to be more of a genjutsu, an illusion, capable only of changing ones appearance. Only, when he was stalking a deer in the forest, disguised as a rabbit, he'd been picked up by a hawk. It had taken him almost a minute to realise what was happening, between the dizziness and surprise. Surely his transformation would have dispelled as soon as he'd been grabbed?

It was only with some experimentation that he discovered that his technique wasn't an illusion, but an actual transformation. Size, shape, structure, physiology, everything changed. His first attempts at flying had been disastrous, but after reading a few books on birds, and a bit of practice, he'd finally succeeded. Those first few moments of realisation, that he was in the air, and not falling…he couldn't imagine anything being much better. Such _freedom_…

But that still begged the question, why was this happening. He knew from Kakashi that his chakra was denser than normal, but even that shouldn't be enough to cause such a profound effect. But what about the fox? What if the chakra being syphoned of the great beast was affecting him? He'd tried talking to the creature twice since their first meeting, but the fox had been hiding in the back of its cage.

Maybe now it was time to try again.

* * *

Opening his eyes, Naruto smiled as he saw the now familiar pools of chakra. His own was far calmer than it had been, but still had small waves crossing it every other moment. It's size had increased too, by almost a fifth. The converted chakra from the kyuubi was now a more steady stream, a purple gold that mixed with his own royal blue. He put his hand under the surface, basking in its warmth. He still found it ironic that he trusted and energy, with no thoughts, feelings, or needs, more than any one person at the moment.

Walking towards the kyuubi's chakra, he found the door to its cage. Rather than dive into that well of rage and hatred every time, he'd 'made' a door in the side of the colossal lake. Stepping through, he felt the familiar anxiety that accompanied the dark hallway. A side effect of the fox's emotional state?

Reaching the cage, he saw the fox waiting for him, eyes narrowed. He took a moment to take in the condition of the cage. The walls had cracked a little, and the wooden doors of the cage were peeling slightly. Closing his eyes, he focused on fixing it up. It still took a surprising amount of strain, but at least the water level had lowered significantly. It was only at ankle level now.

The fox regarded the human in front of it. It didn't particularly care for the boy, but being stuck in the cage with nothing to do was boring. Granted, he had some patience, being thousands of years old, but still. He wondered what the boy wanted this time.

Naruto opened his eyes, and looked up at the beast. After nearly a year of silence, this was…awkward. Add that to the fact that the creature was rather intimidating to begin with…

"Hello, Kyuubi" He said. Yeah. Really awkward.

The glare he received could have melted ice at 20 paces. "What do you want, human?" he growled out.

Naruto frowned. The anger at him was unnecessary, it wasn't like he asked to be put in this situation. "I just wanted to ask you a few questions, if you'll allow it" he said cautiously. He had no doubt that if he was anything less than polite, he'd be cold shouldered. Not a complete disaster, but he'd rather not deal with a pissed off tenant.

Kyuubi frowned, mirroring his host. Questions? About what? And more importantly, what could he get in return?

"I will answer some your questions…if you answer some of mine" he stated, watching the brats reaction. He wasn't' surprised to see that the boy agreed. It was a decent exchange anyway.

"Alright, ask yours first" Naruto said. If he cooperated now, the more likely the fox would answer him later.

The fox nodded. "What is the state of the village?" it asked.

Naruto was taken aback at first, but rationalised it as the fox wanting to know how much damage he'd actually done. "It has recovered for the most part. I don't know how many people you killed, but the ninja population at least is back on its feet", he said. "The civilians all still hate me though. They think that I am you" he said sadly, snorting at the thought. They thought he was a massive chakra beast, a demon, and yet they felt safe enough to antagonise him. What a joke.

He looked up as the fox snorted. Was that amusement? "Please, human, you? A bjuu? As if you could become like me? Like us?" it stated. There was no way any human, not even this one, could ever hope to rival a tailed beast. There had only been three to have ever come close, one of whom he respected more than anyone else, even his kin. Not that anyone would ever know, or care.

Naruto nodded distractedly. Why was it that people were so intelligent, and yet, when he was involved, everything went to hell. "Alright, next question" he said to the bjuu.

Kyuubi nodded. What to ask, what to ask…ah. "If you are such a pariah amongst your own kind…how are you surviving?". It was a reasonable question. Given what would happen to him if the boy died.

Naruto answered slowly. "I hunt for food mostly. After I was kicked out of the orphanage, I had to look through garbage to find food. After Kakashi and Anko found me, I started living in the forest. Kakashi got me a book on hunting, but everything else I tend to steal from the village. I'm still surprised I haven't been found out yet" he finished. He looked up at the Kyuubi as he did so. "But why are asking?" He didn't dare say worry, or care, since the creature evidently didn't. Saying as much would no doubt anger the beast.

The slitted red eyes glanced round, indicating the cage, and more specifically, the seal. "This seal is the strongest I've seen in a long time. I can't break out, unless you open it". No use lying about that, he really couldn't escape. But it might help his situation of he was honest here. "That being said…aside from channelling my chakra into you, after converting it, it has one other function. If you die, I die. No reforming, no more life for either of us. We'll both end up in the death god's stomach", he said grimly.

Naruto was somewhat disturbed by this. At least that answered where he'd go when he died. But what would have to happen to him that he'd release the kyuubi. Not that he would, but if…

He shook his head. He still needed information. "Can I ask my questions now?" The fox nodded in response.

Naruto cleared his throat. "Okay… my transformation technique is solid, instead of a simple illusion. As far as I can tell, I'm performing the technique correctly, and while I'm not complaining about the results, I'd like to know whether it's because of your chakra?"

The bjuu raised an eyebrow. A solid transformation. Shape shifting. This was…new. Then again, this was the first seal that actually siphoned tailed beast chakra into the host. It might have something to do with it but…

"Partly, but it seems your chakra is dense enough to produce the effect. Having mine added to yours just makes it easier" it said. He was an Uzumaki after all.

Naruto nodded, satisfied with the answer. It was far more useful than the standard transformation, but such dense chakra had to be a genetic trait. He would have larger reserves thanks to the Kyuubi, but denser? But for now, the nest question.

"Thanks. Now…do you have a name?"

Drip

Drip

The massive chakra beast was stunned. Not once, not _once_ had any human ever thought to ask a bjuu that question, but to here that question from a child…thousands of years, millions of kills, and a _child _was the first to ask? "Why would you ask that, boy?" he growled out, eyes narrowed.

Naruto, looked up at the visage of the fox. The familiar rage was there, but for a brief moment, he'd felt surprise. "Well," he began. "You are obviously intelligent. If someone else hasn't given you a name by now, I'm sure you've found one for yourself" he explained.

Kyuubi was astonished. Thousands of years, and a human figured it out only now. "Yes, human, I have a name…but," the boy looked confused at this, "it will be some time before you can ever gain my respect enough for me to tell you what it is" he stated warningly. He didn't like humanity, and certainly not the boy. But maybe, just maybe, the human child could aspire to be something like the sage. Something he didn't have to hate.

Naruto nodded. Given what the bjuu must have experienced in their lifetimes, he really couldn't argue with the kyuubi's logic. He was about to ask more questions, but the look on the foxes face made it perfectly clear that he wasn't welcome anymore. He stood up to leave.

"Thanks for answering my questions Kyuubi. By the way," he said as he turned to leave, "my name is Naruto".

The fox watched the retreating form of the human child. This…he could work with this.

* * *

Naruto opened his eyes to an afternoon sky. Every time he accessed the seal, less time passed outside the seal. This last attempt had taken about two hours. Getting to his feet, he wondered what he should do for the rest of the day. The earlier attempt at thievery had been more out of compulsion than necessity, and his current jutsu were more or less up to par. He wanted to start working on the chakra strings, but in all fairness, he felt it would be better to work on the next section of fuuinjutsu. Explosive seals would definitely help as distractions, or as traps.

Opening the relevant book, as well as his journal, he began going through the theory. Every time he studied the sealing arts, he made notes, and wrote down designs in his journal. His understanding of the art. For example, which matrix meant what in a storage seal, and storage seals for certain items, objects or substances.

Looking at the section on exploding seals, he could see that it was, in simple terms, and explosive release of energy. Or something placed in storage, that propelled said something outwards. The amount of chakra determined time until detonation, and/or charge, and variations of the seal allowed for seals that just exploded, or spewed out weapons, acid, or any other manner of deadly thing. Oh this was going to be so much fun.

"Hey brat!"

Naruto looked around blearily. He'd woken up about half an hour ago, and had just finished breakfast. Well, half woken up. And now Anko had arrived. Doing his best to shake himself awake, he stood to greet her. He still wasn't quite used to her positively sadistic smile, but he enjoyed her company, when she wasn't out on a mission.

"Hey Anko, what's going on?" he said warmly. He'd been with her in the village a few times, often to get some dango, or just to hang out. And much to his surprise, she was treated similarly to him. Nowhere near as badly, but still. She at least had the advantage of age, and intimidation. If he tried that, he'd either be laughed at, or, if the person in question really hated him, find several pointy things thrown in his general direction. Followed by a small crowd of angry people. Who chased him. Pity they weren't fast enough.

She just grinned at the boy. Despite his young age, not that she was that old mind you, he was nice enough to hang out with. And surprisingly, he didn't mind her more, bloody side. She'd occasion gone ballistic on a civilian or two who'd insulted her or the brat, and he'd barely batted an eyelid. Apparently hunted for food everyday was good for getting rid of squeamishness.

"Come on brat, I want to introduce you to a few people", she said excitedly. She'd finally got permission from Ibiki to bring the kid round to T & I, after much convincing.

Naruto frowned. If Anko was suggesting this, then whoever she was going to introduce him to must either be ok with what he was, or didn't know. At least, he hoped so. Evidently she understood his apprehension, because she immediately reassured him. Nodding at her he followed her out of the forest, and into Konoha proper.

* * *

In hindsight, Naruto should have expected to end up here. After all, Anko had certainly told him enough about it. They ugly, grey, bunker-like building squatted at the other side of the village at the bottom of the Hokage Mountain. The buildings were so thick here that he could barely see the forest. As he walked through the door behind Anko, he almost missed her greeting the ANBU at the desk. A Rabbit mask, he noted idly. The inside was much the same as the outside, but when they eventually went underground to the interrogation rooms, he started seeing small differences. A puddle of water (he hoped), scuff marks on the walls and floors, even the occasional blood spatter. Anko eventually opened a door, and motioned him inside.

It took him a moment to adjust to the lack of light in the room. However the view through the two-way mirror really captured his attention.

A shinobi was tied up in a chair, facing away from the door. His binds looked to be incredibly tight. There was a steel table in front of him, bolted to the ground, a folding chair on the other side. The room was…filthy, in a word. Naruto honestly doubted whether it had ever been cleaned. Blood stains, other…stains, dripping pipes, and other questionable assorted debris littered the room. Not that the man being interrogated seemed to care anymore.

From the headband on his forehead, Naruto figured he was from Hidden Cloud. And not a missing-nin either. From his age, he must be a jonin as well. He was obviously exhausted. There wasn't a mark on him, but he was obviously at his wits end. His eyes were wide and bloodshot, his knuckles were white, his shirt was drenched in sweat, and his face was gaunt, like he'd just seen his worst nightmare.

And then someone stepped out of the shadows by the door.

The man was fairly tall, with the tanned skin common to fire country residents. Well, Leaf village residents anyway. He wore a standard shinobi outfit, with a bandana covering his hair, and a long, black-as-night trench coat over his shoulders, identical to Anko's in every way, save colour. Naruto almost jumped at his sudden appearance, but months of hunting had taught him not to make any sudden moves in such situations. There was always a bigger predator out there.

Suddenly, the man began to speak. "So, Haro Takemaru, you, a jonin shinobi of Cloud, admit to the attempted kidnapping of the heiress of the Hyuuga clan, on the orders of the Yondaime Raikage?"

Naruto was shocked. A village attempting to steal a bloodline wasn't uncommon, but to go after a Hyuuga? The man was either suicidal or-

As soon as the man replied in the affirmative, Naruto felt warning bells going off in his head. "He's lying", he whispered softly to himself. Though not so softly that Anko didn't hear him. "What are you talking about brat?" she asked, looking at him sideways.

He shook his head. "When that guy-Haro-said that Ibiki-san was correct, he was lying, but" he scrunched up his face in concentration, "only about the last bit, about who ordered him to do it".

Anko stared at him. She knew about his emotion sensing ability, and how accurate it could be. So what truth was the guy hiding. She picked up the microphone to Ibiki's earpiece.

"Ibiki, it's me. We need to talk".

Naruto looked at her gratefully, glad that she trusted him. Despite his age, he knew how serious this was. If any part of this went sideways, it would have bad consequences for the leaf. That meant that Kakashi, Anko, and Itachi, would most likely be put in situations where they might die.

He really didn't want that to happen.

The door to the observation room opened, and Naruto barely held back a gulp. This guy was nowhere near as intimidating as the Kyuubi, but up close, he was still scary.

Ibiki gave Naruto a glance, before turning to Anko. Who knew who Naruto was, what he was, and like most of the senior ninja forces at the time of the attack, he didn't blame Naruto for his prisoner's actions. But he still needed to know what was so important that Anko interrupted him.

"What is it Anko?"

Anko looked at the Naruto. She and Ibiki had planned this for a while, ever since Naruto told her about his emotion sensing ability. She figured, if he could help them interrogate prisoners, or at least tell them whether or not they were lying, they could…compensate him. Unofficially of course. The council would have a fit if they knew a child was working in T & I.

"The brat here," she paused, taking a moment to enjoy Naruto's annoyed expression. He still hated it when she called him that, and she still loved doing it. "He says that the guy in there is lying about who ordered the kidnapping," she finished with a flourish, indicating the prisoner.

Ibiki looked back at his 'patient'. He'd gotten the information out of the man a little too easily, but he hadn't been sure until now what exactly he'd been lied to about. Time to get stuck in. Again.

He nodded at Naruto and Anko. "Thanks kid". Naruto beamed at that. "Why don't you and Anko wait upstairs, I'll get back to you as soon as I'm done with him", he said, pointing over his shoulder at Haro.

Anko led him out the room and back up the stairs. Looking over his shoulder, Naruto saw Ibiki returning to interrogation room. He almost felt sorry for Haro. Almost.

What kidnapper goes after the heiress of a clan that can see through walls. Idiot.

* * *

Naruto eagerly counted the Ryo Ibiki had just given him. _"600…700…1000. Whoa"_ he thought. This was almost as much as he could steal in a day. "So, how about it kid" he looked up at Ibiki. If this was what he was paid for five minutes work…

" Sure, I'll work for you" he said happily.

The matching grins on Ibiki and Anko, if anyone had been around to see them, would have sent them screaming to their mothers.

* * *

And done. Slightly longer chapter this time, hope you enjoyed it.

Naruto won't be 'working' full time, just whenever Ibiki feels they need confirmation on a particularly difficult subject. With the emotion sensing ability, and being friends with Anko, it was inevitable that this would happen.

Next chapter, will have some more fuuinjutsu, more Kakashi, probably chakra string training, and possibly another small time skip.

Let me know what you think, and any advice you feel could be useful.

Keep well, keep reading, and keep writing.


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

* * *

Thank you to RoyalTwinFangs, NinjaFang1331, Kunoichi of the Moonlit night, jsx, Krish11762, zolydck, 06, guest, Reginald D. Uchiha, Galler, Umbra . Venator, Fan (Guest): amaromarn, scarease, Io's torment, steellord, and crazylony.

RoyalTwinFangs: He will, eventually. Don't forget his experiences at the orphanage. Look at my profile for that.

Kunoichi of the Moonlit Night: Thanks for the positive review. The chakra string technique will be…developed. I'm still trying to keep the fox angry, but he will be a fair bit calmer with all of his chakra.

Jsx: He is, and the academy will start when he's about 10, possibly earlier. See my profile as to why.

Zolydck: I agree with you completely about fuuinjutsu. It was one of the reasons Uzushio was destroyed after all. I have some events leading up to the academy planned, as a jinchuuriki he would be a ninja anyway, but he will have help, just not so much from the hokage.

Guest: IF he did, not for a while. Can't say much more about that just yet. What Tobi did after the sealing he did to Naruto, and that will have a big impact later on in the story. Much later. To do with Jinchuuriki. Pairing undecided, but again, that won't happen for a while. Glad you like it, and thank you.

Reginald D. Uchiha: That would actually be quite a good idea, thank you. Similar to Chiyo's in shippuden? That's not a bad suggestion for an outfit. I already have a final outfit planned out, but until then, I might take some inspiration from your idea.

Fan (guest): Fair enough. It was intentional but maybe I should have added a bit more information. But think of it like a series you might be watching; if you are curious about what might happen next, you'll go and watch the next episode. Thank you for not flaming by the way. I will try taking your advice under consideration.

Crazylony: That's a fair opinion, but I guess I was affected by those stories where they start out and he's already super powerful or super smart. I'll see what I can do, but I have a lot of detail to fit into the story. I don't like rushing things, no offense. And on another note, I had a look at your profile, and I have to agree.

Welcome back and I hope you enjoy.

* * *

Standing on a rooftop across from the T&I building, Naruto counted the money from the latest job Ibiki had given him. _"800…1000…1200 ryo. Not bad. At least now I can buy a few new weapons" _he thought to himself. The scarred man had called on him some 10 or so times since the cloud jonin 6 months ago, and he'd received quite an impressive payout. Well, for a kid anyway. He was pretty sure that Ibiki and Anko were both paid a hell of a lot more.

Speaking of that first job…

The jonin he'd seen was an ambassador from cloud, supposedly to iron out a peace treaty. That was the official story. Unofficially, the man was supposed to kidnap the heiress of the Hyuuga clan, granting the Hyuuga bloodline, the Byakugan, to the hidden village. Apparently, he'd been chased by several Hyuuga, including the girl's father and uncle, before ANBU had turned up to capture him. Alive thankfully. Anko claimed that if the man had been killed, the Hidden Cloud might have gained the Byakugan anyway by way of reparations.

But more surprisingly, was the fact that rather than the kidnapping attempt being ordered by the Yondaime Raikage, it had been elements of the Shinobi and civilian councils in Cloud that had given the order. As such, the Raikage had been forced to execute those responsible, and had paid a large sum of ryo to the Hyuuga, as well as turn over several high class missions to the leaf. When Ibiki finally paid Naruto, the young red-head had nearly fainted at the amount of money. Granted, it wasn't that much, but it was the most he'd seen at any one time, some 15000 ryo. And it was _his_.

Speaking of his sensory abilities, he'd managed to refine them somewhat, practicing on Ibiki' vic-urm, subjects, appearing randomly in front of hostile villagers, both as himself, and under a transformation. He could sense ninja more clearly though. Probably something to do with them having more chakra.

He began leaping across the rooftops to get back to his forest. Given enough time, he wondered if he might have enough money to by an apartment. Or even an entire complex. It would be a good source of income. But the forest just felt so much more…_peaceful_. And the animals that did want to kill him only wanted to do so for food. The forest couldn't hate him. People did. Speaking of which…

As he neared the outskirts of the village, he caught sight of Kakashi, standing in that same training ground he'd collapsed in after his entire with the giant snake. But he seemed…Sad. Melancholic. Like he was grieving.

Landing lightly behind Kakashi, Naruto waited for him to notice his presence. Even when reading that book of his in the village, Kakashi was fully alert, but now…

"Hey Kakashi, what's up?"

Kakashi nearly jumped out of his skin. He'd been so absorbed in his daily ritual that he hadn't even noticed Naruto come up behind him. Which in itself was saying something. The boy had so much chakra that any half-decent chuunin could detect.

"Hey Naruto, you surprised me. What are you doing here?" he asked. The Uzumaki didn't often come this way.

Naruto grinned slightly. Whatever the reason for Kakashi's focus, it had allowed him to sneak up on the man. An ANBU captain no less. "Just finished up with Ibiki, so I'm heading back, might do some control exercises before dinner. What are you doing here?" the small red-head asked curiously. What was it about this place, or more specifically, this stone, that was causing Kakashi so much grief?

Kakashi immediately caught on. He supposed it was inevitable that the boy would ask, he certainly spent enough time standing here.

"Look closely at the stone Naruto…"

For a moment, Naruto looked at the masked jonin, before doing as he was asked. The actual stone was a deep obsidian black, chosen to weather the elements. It also looked to have been doing so for a _very_ long time, decades by the looks of things. But more astonishingly, were the countless names carved into to the surface.

Naruto looked to Kakashi, anxiety stirring on his young features. "Who were they?" he asked tentatively.

Kakashi sighed, looking away from Naruto. There were far too many names here for his liking. Too many people that he'd _known_.

"This, Naruto, is the memorial stone. It is as old as this village. The names of the people here…all of them died in service of their village" Kakashi said mournfully, ignoring the shocked look on Naruto's face. "The shinobi world wars, on mission's, or defending the village…everyone on the stone sacrificed themselves to save their comrades, and this village. From the Hokages, to gennin barely out of the academy…they're all here."

Naruto was stunned. To give up their lives to protect what the cared about…wait a minute…

"Kakashi…"

The silver-haired Hatake looked down at the boy. He looked anxious. Like he wasn't sure what to say.

"…do you know anyone on this stone?"

Naruto immediately knew he'd hit sore point for Kakashi. The man's breathing had hitched, his eye had widened, and his emotions…Naruto had felt many things in his life. Pride. Satisfaction. And, save for hatred, none of them came _close_ to the sheer amount of grief in the man in front of him.

"My teammates…Obito sacrificed himself for me…Rin, I…I-I had to…Minato sensei died in the Kyuubi attack…and my father, Sakumo Hatake." He stammered out. He wasn't entirely sure why, but… he had to say this. He had to speak out. Even if it was to Naruto.

"My father was brilliant. Everyone looked up to him. But in the war…he saved his team from an ambush, but their mission was a failure. Everyone, even those he'd saved, scorned and despised him. He took his own life", Kakashi stated blandly. Even now, after so many years, he couldn't face it. That day when he'd gone home, to find his father's body, his prized blade lying next to him…

Naruto stood next to Kakashi. How on earth was he supposed to respond to this? He could feel the self-loathing Kakashi held for himself, for his supposed failures. And at the same time…he wondered if anyone would be sad if he died. The five adults he knew were barely friends, and he had no family. No one would miss him.

Kakashi was broken out of it by a small hand on his arm. Looking down, he saw the sparkling blue eyes of Naruto Uzumaki, filled not with pity, not with understanding, but with hope.

"Kakashi, I-I guess it can't be easy losing anyone. But if they aren't here, you must have friends you can fight for right?"

Such a simple statement. But to Kakashi, it would become so much more. For the first time in 7 years, he actually had a way to pull himself out of his misery. _"How many of those missions did I nearly die on…and my friends…even Gai, I can't leave them alone. I WILL protect them!" _ he thought. The logic of a child. An unusual, strange, tough, Uzumaki child, but still.

Naruto smiled at the look on Kakashi's face. He hadn't been expecting his words to have that much of an effect, but the man's attitude had taken a complete turnaround. Grief had become determination. But even so, he couldn't let Kakashi dwell on the matter.

"Hey Kakashi, while you're busy doing your deep thinking, do you think you could help me with my training for a bit?" he asked tentatively, hiding his excitement. With as much time as he spent on his own, he just wanted to spend a bit of his day with a friend. And this was getting very emotional. He'd been a source of hatred for so long, that Kakashi's happiness felt _strange_. He just needed the training as a distraction.

Kakashi laughed lightly, and nodded to the boy. He smiled through his mask as he followed the boy into the forest. His friends had been trying to help him with this for years. And his problem was solved by someone less than half his age.

He owed Naruto. And not just for this.

* * *

"_Why did I let him talk me into this" _thought Naruto.

After they'd arrived at a river, Kakashi had asked what control exercises he knew. He'd been quite surprised that Naruto could perform the chakra string technique, one string per finger currently. But Naruto was wondering whether he should have left out some information.

The reason for his irritation; He was standing on water, covered in twigs and other bits of wood, using his maximum number of chakra strings, with leaves stuck all over _those. _All while Kakashi threw kunai at him. Already he had several scratches, and his legs were wet from the few times his control had slipped enough for him to start sinking. And he'd been doing this for an hour. And Kakashi was still wearing that _infernal_ eye-smile of his.

"Alright Naruto that's enough"

The red-head immediately dispelled his strings, and dropped all the wood, before jumping to the shore. Kakashi raised an eyebrow. The boy was only slightly out of breathe. Nevertheless, his control was impressive. He himself doubted he could do all that while dodging on water.

"While I can see how that is a good exercise, _Kakashi,"_ Naruto growled out, "did you have to be so damn smug about it?"

Kakashi laughed at this. Of course he did. The look on Naruto's face when the first kunai flew past him was hilarious. He turned to leave. "Keep practicing that. If you don't have someone to through stuff at you, run across the water. See what else you can add too", Kakashi said.

Naruto nodded. The more difficult the exercise, the better his control would get. He started walking away, but Kakashi's next words froze him in place.

"Naruto…thanks".

He spun round, but there were only falling leaves where Kakashi had been. He sighed, running a hand through his-now longer-hair. Trust Kakashi to leave him with that. How was he supposed to relax now?

"_Maybe a walk will help"_, he thought to himself.

* * *

He honestly had no idea how he'd ended up here, especially at this time of day. He'd been here before, he was pretty sure every person in the village had, but not like it was now. The first time he'd been here had been shortly after he'd been kicked out of the orphanage, then again a year later, when he'd tried to play with other kids. Neither time had been successful.

The playground.

It was really just a park, but the younger kids tended to congregate here during the day. But now, as the sun set, it was empty. Everyone was at home, eating dinner, and laughing with their families. "_What the hell am I doing here"_ he thought to himself as he walked across the expanse of grass. In the orphanage, he hadn't been allowed to play, and when he tried here…the park was emptied within minutes.

Suddenly, he was broken out of his thoughts by the sound of running feet, a child by the sounds of things. Why would they be here now?

Turning, he found a brown haired boy sprawled on the grass in front of him, panting for breath. He was filthy, covered in all sorts of dirt and grass. He was 3, maybe 4 years younger than Naruto, and more importantly…he was an Inuzuka, if the red fang tattoos on his cheeks and his slitted eyes were anything to go by.

The boy seemed dazed, but shook himself off quickly enough. Springing to his feet, he finally saw Naruto.

"Oi, what are you doing here?" he asked loudly.

Naruto frowned a little at this. The brat could have been a bit less rude. "I'm just walking around, what are you doing here?" he replied. The boy seemed stunned for a moment. Obviously he wasn't used to people just brushing him off like that. He recovered, and started smirking. "My mom told my sister to fetch me for dinner, but I still wanted to play, so I ran off", he said proudly.

"Don't you want to be with your mom? And won't your sister worry?" Naruto asked with concern. Surely this wasn't normal. Even a kid should know better than to run from his family, regardless of the reason. The boy seemed to think for a moment, a confused look on his face. "Well, yeah, of course I do, and yeah, I guess she will…" he said, trailing off at the end. Evidently he was just realising what he'd done. "Hey, what's your name?" Naruto asked. This really wasn't any of his business, and he doubted the brats parents would be happy about him talking to their child, so he needed to wrap this up. And he kind of wanted to help him.

"It's Kiba," he said, his voice full of guilt. Naruto sighed. He hadn't meant to make the kid feel bad. "Well, Kiba," the boy looked at him, "why don't you go find your sister. I'm sure there will be plenty of time for you to play tomorrow" he said. The boy grinned at this. Given a few years and his feral appearance, it would be an intimidating look in the future.

"Alright! Thanks…"

He started running off, but right before he got to the forest, he turned to ask the boy's name. He blinked when he saw the empty park. _"Whoa…where did he go?" _he thought to himself. It was like his mom did to him when she was going somewhere in a hurry.

"Kiba!"

He saw his sister, Hana, running up to him. He ran up to her grinning. That kid, whatever his name was, was right. Play time could wait.

* * *

Naruto set down his note book. He'd just finished notes on a basic barrier seal, something that, with a bit of work, he would be able to use to protect his piece of forest. More than once he'd woken up with a predator or three not meters away from him. He had the pelts to prove it. He still had a way to go however. Another two weeks or so of study should do the trick.

He thought back to his encounter with Kakashi at the memorial stone. _"Minato…it sounds familiar…wait a minute, wasn't the…dear Kami, Kakashi was trained by the Fourth Hokage!"_ How had he not figured it before? He lay there against a tree, stunned. The man must have been one hell of a sensei for Kakashi to be as strong and skilled as he was. He wondered who Obito and Rin were. They must have been good people if Kakashi missed them that much. He'd ask the masked man about them next time.

He picked up his practice material for the next day. The substitution jutsu. He'd held off on this for a while, still trying to perfect his body flicker and transformation techniques. He'd advanced far more in his transformation, but now that he had new ideas for control training, he could afford to practice another technique

It was a useful technique. Linking to an object using chakra, before 'switching' with it. It had very few hand signs, most likely because its main use was to pull the user away from what might have been a killing blow. The closer in size to the object you were, the easier it was to switch. Especially without hand signs. Apparently it was even possible to switch with objects covered in explosive tags, with the right preparation of course. Make an enemy think they've killed you, before blowing them to hell and beyond. But it would still have to wait for tomorrow. After all that had happened today, he really needed to sleep.

* * *

Two months later.

"Congratulations on your purchase sir. I hope you enjoy the apartment"

Naruto watched as the fat, beady eyed landlord waddled away. He'd spoken to Ibiki about getting a more regular income, and with his previous savings he had enough to buy a small apartment. Even if it was barely that. The single room was not in good condition. The walls were peeling, the fittings were cracked, and there was a highly suspicious smell coming from one of the kitchen cupboards.

Dispelling his transformation, he checked out the bathroom, before unsealing several pots of paint and other assorted home care items. The store clerk had been very happy to help an 'honest citizen of the leaf'. What bullshit. His transformation was the man he was going to rent the apartment to. And the better the condition it was in, the more the newly promoted chuunin would be willing to pay.

He smirked at that. It had taken him three weeks to find a suitable 'target', and another two to find an apartment that was both cheap enough, and readily available. The building was in a rather…run down area of the village, but the complex was decent enough. The other residents seemed quiet enough.

Briefly, he thought about getting himself an apartment. Somewhere where he could go at the end of the day and just relax, without having to sleep lightly for fear of having his head bitten off. Why was it that he always attracted the largest predators? But he would never be able to as himself, they would just turn him away. And even if he did so as someone else, he didn't think he could live there knowing that everyone around him hated his guts. Inevitably he would slip and they would find out who was really staying there. Then his life would really go to hell. And it wasn't like they deserved his money anyway.

No, the forest was better anyway. And the danger was…fun. The rush he got every time he had to fight for his life. According to some psychology books he'd read, his attitude wasn't exactly healthy, but whatever. He'd deal with that later.

* * *

"Thank you for your patronage sir, I hope you enjoy your stay".

This time he was transformed into the fat manager he'd bought the apartment from in the first place. Speaking of which, the place was looking much better. Fresh paint, new furniture, everything. Anyone who'd seen the place before he'd got stuck in would have thought he was charging highway robbery. The chuunin in question was quite young, his hair tied up in a spiky pony tail, a long scar across his face. Naruto was pretty sure the man had nearly lost his nose, given the size of the scar.

"It's a pleasure Tahiro-san, I'm sure I will"

'Tahiro' nodded as the man closed the door to his new apartment. Iruka Umino, newly promoted chuunin, and soon to be instructor at the gennin academy. Maybe he could get information about the academy curriculum from him. He wouldn't be entering the academy for another year or two, but it couldn't hurt to be prepared.

In the meantime however, he needed to see Ibiki. There was a new prisoner.

* * *

He walked into the observation room, noting Anko's absence. It was rare that she wasn't here with him. He heard the door open and turned, ready to greet his only female friend, only to stop in his tracks when he saw Ibiki standing there instead. "Hey kid" the scarred man growled out.

Naruto mumbled a greeting. "I thought you would be in there already, and where's Anko?" he asked with concern. Ibiki grinned at him. "She's going to perform the interrogation today. You know how I like to mess with them right?" he asked the red-head. Naruto nodded. He'd once seen a prisoner wet himself out of fear when Ibiki was 'talking to him. He'd gained a healthy respect for the man's skills. And he'd taken a few notes. You never know, it might come in handy one day.

"Well, Anko tends to get more…violent. If you have any squeamishness left, you won't after this" the big man said, turning back to the prisoner. Naruto watched as the door to the other room opened. In stepped Anko. But this wasn't and Anko he ever wanted to face. Her features sported a wide, sadistic grin, showing far too many teeth. A promise of the pain that was to come. Even now, Naruto could feel the fear on the man, rolling off in waves. And Anko…she was enjoying this. Granted, there was a little something that felt faintly like disgust, but it was overwhelmed by her bloodlust.

The interrogator and the Uzumaki watched as she slowly walked over to the man, grinning as she did so. It reminded Naruto of a tiger, waiting for the right moment to strike, all the while toying with its prey. This was going to be gruesome.

* * *

Naruto waited in the corridor for Ibiki and Anko. He was rather proud of himself for not vomiting, but it had been close. He turned slightly green at what Anko had done.

First, she had administered a poison, meant to inflame nerve endings. She had then proceeded to drag a kunai over the man's skin, leaving shallow, dripping cuts all over the man's arms, legs, and face. He looked like he was sweating blood, his skin stained red with Anko's treatment. He'd been a gibbering, screaming mess by that point, barely able speak. And Anko hadn't.

Since she'd started, since she'd first walked in, she hadn't uttered a single word. Not one. All the while grinning at her work, at the sheer amount of _pain_ she was causing the man. And only once she was finished did she ask her questions. Through the fear, the terror, Naruto could feel that the man was telling the truth. And despite how brutal Anko was being, he honestly believed that the man deserved what was being done to him. He'd murdered a man while on a mission, and done truly unspeakable things to his family. Naruto truly hoped that the man would be executed.

"Hey brat"

He looked at Anko. He would never see her the same way, but so long as he wasn't her subject, he could live with it. "Remind me never to get on your bad side" he joked, grinning lightly. She laughed sheepishly. If Naruto hadn't been there, she would have done even worse things to the man. Meh, there was always the next one.

He said goodbye to the two, counting his ryo as he left. He still had work to do.

* * *

Ibiki stood resolutely in front his friend, Inoichi. He supposed it was inevitable that his friend would find out, but he didn't know how the man would react. The Yamanaka clan head had transferred to the division years ago, and with his clan jutsu had quickly become one of its leading interrogators. He'd even made breakthroughs in tearing information from dead bodies, provided the head was intact.

"Do you want to tell me what a child is doing in an interrogation room, _Ibiki_" the man growled out. The boy he'd seen could only have been a few years older than his own daughter. How could Ibiki possibly justify bringing a child here of all places.

Ibiki looked him straight in the eye, not backing down in the slightest. "He started helping us when Hizashi brought in that cloud ambassador. He has a useful little ability that allows him to detect when someone is lying. Since then, I've been paying him to look over some interrogations, just to check that the facts are correct" he said.

"That doesn't justify this! He's a child, what would his parents say about this?"

Ibiki gave his friend a hard look. "Inoichi, he's the Uzumaki boy"

That stopped the Yamanaka in his tracks. Red hair and whiskers. It should have been obvious. He'd been happy that Hizashi hadn't been sacrificed to save the Hyuuga, kami knows Hiashi would need him. But still…

"What does the orphanage say about this?" Inoichi asked. Surely someone had objections to this. He was surprised when he saw Ibiki grind his teeth in frustration. The scarred man _never_ got angry like this.

"He has been living in the forests by the training grounds since he was five Inoichi. The _orphanage_," he spat out the name, "threw him out. He seems to be doing alright, but I thought he could use the money".

Inoichi stood stunned. While he may not have had anything against the boy, jinchuuriki or otherwise, he was a _child_. What the hell was wrong with those people.

"Sorry, Ibiki. But why hasn't anything been done? Surely the Hokage-"

"The Hokage" Ibiki said, "wouldn't lift a finger. You know he blames Naruto for his wife's death".

Inoichi nodded dumbly. It was well known that Biwako Sarutobi had died during the Nine Tails attack. The council meeting afterwards had revealed how deeply the loss had affected the Sandaime. Even so, no child deserved this. Especially not this one in particular.

Ibiki watched his friend think. He could only hope that he would reach the same conclusion.

"I want to speak to him next time"

Ibiki raised an eyebrow at the sudden words. "Don't get me wrong, I still don't fully approve of what you're doing", Inoichi said. He frowned as he considered his next words. "But…if it helps the boy…then I won't stop you. Just make sure that no one else finds out. They might not take it so well."

"What, like you did?" Ibiki remarked with a snort. Inoichi gave a wry grin. True, he hadn't reacted well. But he couldn't just allow the boy to live like this. There must be some way he could help.

Somehow…

* * *

And done. Sorry for the long wait, I had a week of tests so studying took up a lot of my time.

Also, a few people have said that the story might be moving a bit slowly. Fair enough, and I will try to speed things up, but I want to at least make his abilities believable. Just saying.

Hope you enjoyed it. Keep well, and please review.


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